Living with the Decision
by thinktink2
Summary: Nick and Adalind have made their choice to have a life together. Now they have to deal with it, no matter what life hands them. Sequel to Accepting the Consequences.
1. Chapter 1

AN: A bit of a slow start so bear with me for a bit. I anticipate about a dozen or so chapters for this story.

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"So, I arrested a suspect in a murder case today," Nick began, as he took a seat at the head of the table next to Adalind. Their twenty-month-old son Kelly was in a high chair between them, making a mess out of his plate of food. He would require a bath, as no amount of wiping off was going to rid him of the spaghetti-o's, or whatever they appeared to be, from his hair and body. It was Nick's turn, too, and Kelly was apparently going to make him work at it.

"That's good," Adalind said, digging into her pasta, which was a more respectable version for adults: lasagna. Nick could tell her tone was one of companionable acknowledgement; a couple sharing the highs and lows of their day, filling the silences between bites.

"As I'm reading him his rights, he tells me he gets turned on by petite blondes and sassy women, too," Nick added conversationally, and Adalind paused in her chewing, fork poised midair to her mouth with her next bite, and slid her eyes to Nick.

Nick smiled, annoyed, back at her and she huffed a sigh and rolled her eyes, and continued eating.

"It's the gift that keeps on giving," he said, referring to the Portland's Hottest Civil Servant charity that he had been volunteered for against his knowledge, and mostly against his will, to participate in a few months back. Due to his, and more accurately Adalind's, efforts he had raised quite a bit of money for the arts council resulting in his selection for the annual calendar, which was where they apparently put most of the information from an incredibly invasive questionnaire, which Adalind had taken care of without him knowing until it was too late to change it or take any of the information back.

It went without saying that it was forever June in Adalind's office. The blasted calendar that had resulted from his forced participation in the charity event hung on the side of one of her file cabinets with his mug on prominent display, 24/7, 365 days a year. Worse still was the little snippet of information taken from the questionnaire she had filled out for him in a text box down in the corner that, so far, most of the station, four murder suspects, seven victims, and about 500 random people on the street referenced whenever they saw him and made the connection.

It made his job interesting, to say the least, and he already thought his job was plenty interesting what with Wesen, the uprising, and the resistance. Hank and Wu brought him coffee for a month when the calendar had first been released since he couldn't so much as order a cup without someone recognizing him, and then every head in the shop would turn once someone pointed him out. Not to mention some of the comments they made. Case in point: The murder suspect he had arrested this afternoon.

"Did you tell him he had excellent taste, then?" Adalind asked, and Nick gave her a look. She bit down a smile and forked another bite of lasagna in her mouth.

"No, I debated on shooting him," Nick replied. "Fortunately for him there were witnesses."

"Well, I thought you looked devastatingly handsome," Adalind replied, "I was disappointed you didn't make the holiday spread, but I suppose it would be unfair to imply you were anyone else's present to unwrap but mine," she said, grinning. He flashed another dark look at her, and thought maybe he would use the murder suspect comment to his advantage later tonight, after they put Kelly to bed. Dish out punishment. Problem was, she liked the punishment, and Nick, while most days mildly to moderately aggravated by the lingering effects of the charity function, enjoyed the fact it gave him the opportunity to cash in on her sympathy.

"How was your day?" he asked, letting the calendar and charity brouhaha go for the time being.

She shrugged and took a sip of water. "Berman gave me the Lizstein contract," she said, and Nick looked up in surprise.

"That's good, right? It's supposed to be a really big client for your company." She had mentioned it a few times, that if they closed the deal they would gain quite a bit of revenue from their representation and the resulting billable hours. It went without saying that the lawyer attached to it would have a lot of responsibility and a very high profile.

"Yeah," she agreed, and Nick frowned, wondering why she wasn't more enthusiastic about landing what appeared to Nick to be quite the honor.

"And you're unhappy because..." he said, trying to figure out what the problem was.

She sighed and put her fork down, biting her lip. "I'm not unhappy," she said after a moment.

"You're not ecstatic because..." he said.

"It's a really nice honor, I mean, it's a very nice compliment Berman is paying me with the gesture."

"But?"

She pushed her plate back and folded her arms near the edge of the table. "It's going to mean a lot of work, Nick. A lot of late nights, and weekends, and long days."

"You're worried about Kelly?"

"Kelly. You," she said, and Nick frowned. "I mean—when am I ever going to see both of you? There are days now when I'm working or you're working and go in at the crack of dawn and don't leave until well after dark. You're called out to crime scenes at any given time, and not to mention if they need you for something at the Wall, or something comes up Wesen related. It's a lot on Kelly. It's a lot on you." She bit her lip again. "It's a lot on me. Don't get me wrong. I love my work, but sometimes, it just seems too much. I miss you guys. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of important things, and I don't want Kelly getting shuffled around all the time from one caregiver to another. Rosalee's been great, but she helps you and Monroe quite a bit, and what happens when the time comes when she wants to focus on a family of her own?"

Nick set his own fork down. Rosalee and Monroe starting a family had been something on his own mind lately. It had not been too long ago that Rosalee had thought she was pregnant. Adalind had said she had been terrified but hopeful, and that was never more evident than when she had looked at the results of her pregnancy test and it was negative. Nick had witnessed the tears firsthand and the disappointment on Rosalee's face was still fresh in his mind after several months.

Nick and Adalind relied on them a lot, Nick more so, and it wasn't fair to their friends' relationship for him to keep demanding so much time away from each other. They should be allowed to live and work their own lives without getting sucked in to Nick's cases, or Grimm stuff every second of the day. Black Claw and the Wesen uprising had suffered a serious setback, and the resistance was only gaining momentum. Some of the stress there had eased, as more and more able bodies joined the fight against it. Nick knew Monroe was getting anxious about starting his own family, instead of being burdened with the responsibility of Nick's.

"You're right," Nick said. "We rely—I rely—on them too much. It shouldn't affect what they want to do, but don't let that make your decision on your case. You've been talking about it for a while. This is a great opportunity for you, and it won't be forever. We'd just have to make adjustments for a few months. We've lived through worse."

Adalind nodded, but she didn't look convinced. "I do this, and then there'll be another one. How long can we keep making the adjustments until we've got nowhere to go. I still want to be a mother to my son. I still want to come home at night and be able to give him his bath, and read him a story, and play with him. If I do this—he'll be in bed most nights before I even get home. The burden of taking care of him is going to all fall on you, Nick. He's a handful now with both us sharing the load."

She looked at Kelly, who turned his head to look at his mother as well, before giggling and playing with his food. There was nothing Nick loved more than Kelly, except maybe his mom, but she was right. He was an energetic, willful child.

"Well, what's the flip side of that? You tell Berman you appreciate the honor but you already have a full caseload," Nick said, "Or maybe there's someone who can shoulder most of the load? Lane?"

Adalind shook her head. "He can help, but Berman gave it to me because this is a huge deal to land them as clients and he knows I'll make sure everything goes as it should. We can't afford to give this to someone less experienced with handling this type of contract and client." She put a hand over her forehead.

"I feel like I miss all of Kelly's milestones. His first smile, his first tooth, his first words," Nick said. "If you decide to do this don't worry about us. This will be good father/son bonding time. Do what you need to do. We'll make it work. Maybe we can even hire Trubel as a nanny," Nick suggested with a grin. "She's got experience," he said, referencing her stint as a volunteer with Kelly's daycare when he had been under threat of kidnap from one of Adalind's coworkers involved in Black Claw.

Adalind snorted and flashed a wan smile, but she still looked troubled and Nick was struck by the fact that this must have been bothering her for some time now. He had had his misgivings about her going back to work, but other than a few hiccups here and there, and then the thing with Louis a few months ago, it hadn't been bad. There were times they were both scrambling to either pick up or drop off Kelly at his daycare, or find someone that could, usually Rosalee, but nothing that would justify Nick saying she needed to quit this experiment and stay home with their child. She had done that for a year without complaint, and Nick understood her enough to know it wasn't a fair or reasonable demand anyway.

It was also worth noting that they had benefitted greatly from the second, more plentiful income, too. Nick had been managing, but things had been tight trying to support two adults and one growing child on just Nick's detective's salary. They had both become accustomed to this new standard of living. If Adalind were to quit that meant no more daycare for Kelly, and loathe though he was to give that place any sort of credit, Kelly _had b_ een thriving in its environment. He was very intelligent and advanced for his age, and it wouldn't just potentially hurt Adalind if she were to resume her duties as a stay at home mom again, not that she couldn't or wouldn't take up with his education and development.

"We'll make it work," he said again, "Whatever you decide." Adalind nodded and smiled more confidently.

"I know."

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Life in the Schade-Burkhardt household was fairly tame, once you factored Black Claw, the resistance, and anything Grimm related out of it. Which mostly left the hours they spent sleeping, but occasionally they shared a morning or evening, or even, rarely, a whole weekend without any drama. A nearly normal couple raising their child, paying bills, doing dishes and other chores and bickering about mundane topics such as who kept forgetting to put the cap back on the toothpaste (Nick), who couldn't seem to pick their clothes off the floor (also Nick), and who clogged the shower drain with hair (Adalind).

The next morning started as it usually did: Adalind hustling around the loft trying to make herself and Kelly presentable and Nick, already presentable, drinking his coffee and trying to stay out of the line of fire. Kelly, however, was adding to the flames. He seemed to be especially perceptive to when his mother was agitated about something, or perhaps her nerves were feeding his, but he had already thrown a tantrum about the shirt Adalind tried to dress him in, and was currently giving Nick grief about eating his breakfast. Nick had taken over feeding him when it appeared Adalind might spontaneously combust when Kelly batted his breakfast off the highchair and across the room in a fit of temper.

"Kelly," Nick said, having tried airplane noises, Wesen noises, police noises, high pitched voice, low pitched voice, and now was resorting to a stern authoritative voice he typically used with difficult suspects. "Stop throwing your food and eat your breakfast."

Kelly stared at him wide-eyed, contemplating the seriousness of Nick's request, before deciding if Nick wasn't with him than clearly he was against him. Having no friends to be found in this particular loft, and already incited his mother's ire, he began to bawl, and Nick took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Not exactly the capable dad impression he was hoping to leave Adalind with before her big meeting with Berman. He didn't want her to feel that he couldn't step up and handle things if she needed to take on more responsibility at her job. She had always stepped up and handled the minutiae with Kelly no matter his job or life as a Grimm had thrown them. He knew she didn't doubt his ability to protect Kelly, even though Nick usually did, but he hadn't had much opportunity to embrace the Mr. Mom role in their relationship.

He still heard the hairdryer going in the bathroom so there was still time to salvage the present situation.

"Kelly," he said, in his normal voice, picking his son up from his high chair. "Look, daddy's sorry, okay? Daddy's sorry." He rocked Kelly side to side while Kelly bawled. He placed a kiss on his temple and then rolled his eyes heavenward when Kelly wailed, "I want mama!"

Well, there was a ringing endorsement on Nick's parenting ability if ever he heard one.

"It's okay," Nick said.

"Mama!"

Swell.

Nick stood tossing Kelly gently above him, trying to get the tears to stop before Adalind finished drying her hair. "See? It's okay, you're okay." He tossed him a few more times, Kelly slowly quieting his crying, a troubled expression on his face. He tossed a couple more times for good measure and set him down with another kiss on his cheek. Kelly wriggled out of his grasp, and moved on to some of his toys.

There was still the matter of breakfast. They fed him at the daycare, he usually had a mid-morning snack, followed by lunch and a midafternoon snack. Maybe he could pack something extra in his baby bag so Kelly would have it when he got hungry.

Adalind would probably kill him if she came out to find her son still half-dressed, unfed, and Nick not helping to facilitate either of those things.

He heard Kelly chatter to himself and his toys but he didn't seem particularly interested in playing, either. Nick frowned. Well, dressing him was the easiest to remedy, so he attempted that first.

By the time Nick got the shirt over his son's head, he had calculated that he had dealt with Siegbarste that were more cooperative than Kelly.

" _What_ is your problem this morning, buddy? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the crib?"

Adalind walked by Nick, who was carrying a fussy, and frankly not delightful, Kelly, dressed in an almond colored slip, trimmed with almond colored lace, her breasts jostling attractively with each step. He trailed after her, watching her open one of the doors of the armoire and selected a crème colored dress, with black accents on the sides.

"Need any help?" Nick asked, setting Kelly on his feet. Kelly wandered aimlessly around the room still irritable. Adalind flashed Nick a frazzled look, and then nodded.

"If you could zip me," she said slipping into it and turning around so her back was to him. Nick nodded and stepped forward and was accosted by the heady mix of her perfume and body wash. He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him.

"Nick," she said.

"What? I can't help it if you smell really good…and you look really good," he murmured, placing a lingering kiss against her neck, her collarbone, just under her ear. "You feel really good."

"I can't be late. I need to get there early and let Berman know my decision."

"Which is?" Nick said, straightening a little.

"I'm…I'm going to do it."

"That's great," Nick said, and hoped he sounded sincere.

"Really?" she said, turning to face him.

"Absolutely. You're going to knock it dead."

"You sure you'll be okay? Kelly—"

"I told you. We'll figure it out. You do what you need to do. It won't be a problem."

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"Burkhardt," Nick said into the handset at his desk. He clicked on the email with the subject _autopsy results_ and scrolled through the pictures to the conclusion.

"Yes, is this Detective Nicholas Burkhardt?"

"Yes, this is Detective Burkhardt," Nick said distractedly. _Excision of heart, liver and tongue?_

"This is Felicia, Kelly's caregiver down at—"

"I know who you are," Nick interrupted, suddenly focused on the conversation. "Is everything okay?" He was suddenly tensed, wondering if someone had tried to get at his son again.

"Well, I'm afraid Kelly's running a fever, so you'll need to come get him."

"Oh, well, of course," Nick said, and then immediately wondered who was free to do so. His first thought had been Adalind; she usually responded to these calls, and especially the ones where Kelly was ill, but she had called earlier this morning to tell him that Berman had clearly expected her to say nothing other than yes, as he already had her day lined up with meetings. She had lamented that she probably had seen daylight for the last time on her drive in to work, so Nick suspected she was out. Not to mention she was first on the daycare's call list, and they had both her contact numbers. If she hadn't answered either of those, she wasn't going to answer Nick's. Rosalee was doing some sort of inventory at the spice shop, he could call her, except the conversation between he and Adalind was still in the back of his mind, and he thought he might want to use the Rosalee Rescue Card later on, so he might want to save it and not cave the first day.

He glanced at the clock on his desk phone and frowned. He was supposed to join Hank for an interview with a witness at eleven o'clock, another twenty minutes from now.

"I could be there by noon," Nick said, looking at the clock again and calculating the time.

"Mr. Burkhardt, you need to come get your son immediately. He's running a fever and the other children are at risk for getting sick."

 _He probably got sick from one of your other children_ Nick thought uncharitably, but he stifled a sigh. Hank could handle the interview on his own, he supposed, but he still needed to go through the coroner's report and follow up on a couple of leads.

"All right," he said, "I'll be there as soon as I can," and hung up after Felicia's thank you.

He finished clicking through the rest of the autopsy report, and then forwarded it to Hank's email. He grabbed his coat off the back of the chair and knocked on Renard's door.

"Enter!"

"Captain, I'm going to need the rest of the day off. I need to pick up my son at daycare," Nick said when he reached Renard's desk. Renard looked up with a frown.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, Kelly's sick, apparently. He's running a fever and they won't let him remain there."

"Adalind's unavailable?"

"She's busy with a new high-profile case at her job. She'll be working a lot of extra hours for the foreseeable future until she finishes."

"Where are you at with the investigation?"

"Just got the autopsy results back. Victims liver, heart and tongue were excised."

"Ingredients for a spell?"

"Looks like," Nick agreed grimly. "It would fit with some of the things we found in the victim's home and at the crime scene."

Renard nodded. "Where's Hank at on the witness you brought in for questioning?"

"Uhh, we're supposed to interview him here shortly, but Hank is going to have to take the lead on that. The daycare was pretty insistent I need to pick up Kelly right away."

"Have Wu follow up with the victim's sister. I'll check in with Hank on the interview."

"Thanks." Nick had his hand on the door when Renard stopped him.

"Hope your son gets to feeling better."

"Me too."

%%%%%%%%

"Okay, buddy, let's get you down for a nap," Nick said, throwing up the elevator gate and dropping Kelly's baby bag on the floor. Kelly had been listless and irritable from the moment Nick picked him up, cheeks flushed with fever, and warm to the touch. He heard his phone buzz in his pocket, and fished it out.

"It's mommy," he told Kelly who just rubbed at his eyes with the back of a dimpled hand in frustration. He set Kelly down gently, running a hand over his light brown hair and brought the phone to his ear.

"Nick! I had two missed calls from the daycare. Did you get Kelly?" she asked anxiously.

"Yup, just got home from picking him up," Nick said. He dropped his car keys in the bowl on the entry table, and looked at his son. Kelly had moved a few feet into the room, but he was still moving about listlessly. He thought his cheeks looked especially red in the loft lighting and he held the phone between his shoulder and ear and opened the paper pharmacy bag he had with him.

"Is he okay? Felicia said in the message he had a fever?"

"Yup, looks like," Nick said, moving closer to his child. "He's pretty flushed. And cranky," Nick added, watching Kelly crinkle his brow in annoyance when his father ran his hand through his son's hair again.

"What's his temperature?"

"Uh, I think Felicia said it was a 101," Nick said.

"Have you taken it since then?" Adalind asked.

"No, we just got home like two minutes ago," Nick said.

"There's a digital thermometer in the bathroom, in the basket on the bottom shelf."

"I know that," Nick said, although truthfully he just knew they had a digital thermometer somewhere, having seen Adalind use it before a couple of times.

"You'll need to hold his head still, he doesn't really like it in his ear, but you only need to hold it until it beeps, it's like a couple of seconds."

"I think I can figure it out. He'll be fine, don't worry. Called Rosalee, I've got some baby Tylenol to help with the fever and I'm going to put him down for nap. We've got it covered," Nick assured.

"My poor baby," she lamented. "I should have known he wasn't feeling well, he was so unlike himself this morning," she noted. "He's never that unhappy in the morning."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be back to his usual ornery self in no time."

"Maybe I should come home, I'm sure you had a lot going on at work."

"And you don't?" Nick countered. "Hank and Wu got it covered. Adalind, we'll be fine."

"You're sure he's okay? He doesn't have the flu, does he? It's going around. Maybe you should get him in to see the doctor."

"No, he's not throwing up. I'm positive, we'll be fine, I can do some research for work from home, and you need to show Berman his faith in you is justified."

"Okay," she said uncertainly. "But call me if he gets worse or you need me. I told my assistant to come get me no matter what's going on."

"Not going to be necessary, but if anything more happens with Kelly I'll let you know," he said, watching Kelly toddle a few feet away from him. He spasmed and gagged, and promptly threw up all over himself. Nick widened his eyes in alarm and watched as Kelly did it again.

"You're right, I'm probably overreacting," He heard Adalind say.

"Mm-hmm," Nick said, looking frantically for a towel, and then said to Adalind, when it appeared Kelly might be getting ready to throw up for a third time, "Okay, love you, gotta go!"

He clicked the phone off as soon as he heard her respond in kind and snatched Kelly from his vomit covered spot on the floor. He managed to reach the bathroom before Kelly upchucked again, but unfortunately not before he upchucked all over both himself and Nick. Nick got him to the sink as he was finishing up, and Nick bit his lip staring down at his shirt, and Kelly began to cry.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: So what did everyone think of this most recent episode? Hmm.

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"You could have called me earlier, you know."

Nick slid the elevator gate back down and followed Rosalee, and Monroe, who had joined her, into the loft.

"I was trying to convince myself I could handle it."

Nick was in his old police academy sweats and socks, and an apron, having changed clothes after Kelly managed to puke on him a second time. He had also managed what might be the world record in showering, too, clocking in at just under three minutes and forty-five seconds, Kelly having fallen asleep on the bathroom tile exhausted from his illness. Nick had kept a worried eye on him, feeling well out of his depth and expertise in child care. He had only taken care of Kelly by himself once before when he had been this sick, months ago when Adalind had been using Louis Parker, a Wesen involved in Black Claw, that had been using _her_ to try to get at Nick and Kelly. He had felt out of his depth then, too, but had Adalind only a phone call away to help him, and Rosalee, who had stopped by in the afternoon to offer her assistance when she heard Kelly had been sick. Kelly had spent most of the late morning and afternoon sleeping by that point, so he had been given a reprieve compared to what he was dealing with now. Adalind was only a phone call away now, too, but if he was going to prove she had nothing to worry about and that she could focus on her job, he needed to figure this out.

He had finally admitted that didn't mean on his own.

"How's he doing?"

"He slept for a little bit, but he's up and he can't keep anything down. He's fussy and irritable, and just plain miserable."

"Poor little guy," Monroe said, and Rosalee followed Nick into the loft and to Kelly, who was sitting on the floor, in a shirt and diaper, his third change of clothes, looking unhappy. "What's up with the apron?" Monroe asked Nick, "You cooking something?" His answer was delayed when Rosalee turned to Nick.

"Is he still running a fever?"

"Yeah, 102, now, up a little bit from earlier."

"Okay, we need to get the fever down and keep him hydrated," Rosalee said.

"Good luck on both," Nick said, frowning when Kelly spotted Rosalee and help up his arms with a few rather pitiful cries.

"What's the matter sweetheart?" Rosalee asked, and Kelly uttered a plaintive sounding "want Mama," that stabbed in Nick's heart. He should call Adalind. He was only hurting Kelly by keeping him from seeing his mother, and Adalind knew better what to do. "Are you not feeling well, huh?" Kelly sniffled and a few tears ran down his cheeks. Rosalee pressed her palm against Kelly's cheek and forehead, before placing a kiss there.

"Yeah, he's still pretty warm," she said. "I think I may have something that might settle his stomach." She handed Kelly to Monroe.

"Do you have like an eye dropper?" Rosalee asked Nick, handing Kelly off to Monroe.

"Yeah, I think so, in the drawer next to sink." Rosalee rounded the counter and pulled it open.

"Excellent," she said smiling. The smile vanished when Kelly gagged and threw up all over Monroe's shirt front. Monroe held Kelly at arm's length away from him, glancing down, before looking up at the ceiling, with a hard swallow. He looked at Nick, pivoting to present his son back to him. Nick smiled briefly.

"That's what the apron is for."

%%%%%%%%%

"Nick? Nick."

"Mm?" he murmured sleepily. He buried his nose deeper into the pillow and drifted back to sleep after few moments.

"Nick? Are you awake?" He pondered a rude reply when he felt Adalind's hand ghost over him.

"What time is it?" he mumbled, twisting around to look at Adalind. He jerked his head away when she turned on the bedside lamp. "Ahh!" he uttered, covering his eyes.

"Sorry," Adalind said, and he felt the bed dip down beside. He blinked a few times, and squinted at his girlfriend and live-in love for almost two years. Her hair was long and wavy and loose, and she smiled in apology as she slipped off her pumps and sighed. She looked tired, Nick thought, and he wondered again how late it was. He hadn't meant to fall asleep so early but Kelly's stomach had finally settled down in the evening and both father and son had welcomed the change in status. Kelly still slept fitfully, taking a two-hour nap sometime around six, when Adalind had finally called to say she was running late. He had woken sometime before eight when Nick attempted some pedialyte and so far it had stayed down. Both had fallen back asleep and Nick had finally put Kelly back in his crib before hitting the sack himself. That had been a little after nine, Nick thought.

"It's 10:30, give or take," Adalind said, and fell back against the bed. "How's my baby?" she asked Nick, running her fingers through his hair.

Nick shrugged into his pillow, enjoying her soft touch. "I'm all right."

He winced when he felt her tug on his hair. "Oh, you mean Kelly? He's doing okay. Fever's down, and he's keeping food down now."

"He threw up?" Adalind asked, sitting up in alarm, and Nick recalled he hadn't mentioned that fact to her. "Why didn't you call me?" She exclaimed, getting out of bed, but she stopped when Nick grabbed her wrist.

"Because he's fine, and he's sleeping. He's okay…just…has the flu I think." Nick said. "Come back to bed." She resisted for a few moments, the need to assuage her own fears warring with her ability to trust Nick. She finally relented, and sat back down on the bed, one leg tucked under her.

"He's okay?" Adalind asked again. "You're sure?"

"Yeah, he's cranky as all shit, but he's okay. Just tired. Finally went down around nine. Hoping he sleeps all through the night."

"I should be here with him. I'm not so sure this is a good idea, taking on this new client."

"You think I can't do it?" Nick asked with a small grin, but he let go of any hurt he might be feeling when she looked at him teary-eyed.

"No, but I'm his mother, it's my job to take care of him when he's sick or hurting," she said, and Nick recalled his own mother doing the same when he was a child. How he looked to her for comfort and sympathy when he was ill, how she held him at times. He nodded once in understanding.

"I know, but technically it's both our jobs. I'm not saying he didn't miss his mom. We both did, but I think we both do anyway like any normal day."

She flashed him a watery smile and relaxed against the pillow on her side facing him. He slid over and kissed her forehead and gathered her close. She snuggled against him, tucking her head under his chin and let his gentle ministrations soothe her.

"How did your first official day with your new high-profile client go?"

"Long," she said after a moment, with another sigh. "I think they're going to be a handful."

"Hmm," Nick said, drifting back to sleep. He came back to consciousness when Adalind stirred.

"I need to get out of this dress," Adalind murmured.

"Hmm," Nick replied, drifting away again.

"Really?" She said, and he opened his eyes blearily.

"What?"

"No lascivious comment about getting me out of it? No help?" she said, leaning back to look at him. "This morning you couldn't keep your hands off me. Are you sure Kelly's okay? Are you?" she asked somewhat worriedly.

"I'm fine. We're fine." He said. "I suppose if it means that much to you, I can assist you with your dress conundrum." He slid his hand from her waist to her back and pulled the zipper down. "You're good to go."

"Wow," she said in amusement. "Never thought I'd see the day where Nicholas Burkhardt was too tired to take advantage of an opportunity for sex with me. I must be losing my touch. My looks?" she asked, and Nick opened one eye to stare at her.

"No, you're still beautiful," Nick said. "Maybe more so since you're mine." He closed the eye.

"Wow, you mean to tell me you're just going to let me slip out of this dress with no assistance at all?"

"What do you mean, no assistance? I unzipped it," Nick retorted. "You mean to tell me after a 13 hour day you want to go a couple of rounds with me?" Nick wasn't sure if he wanted the answer to be yes. He really was kind of tired, but the talk of sex, and the possibility of having Adalind naked and wanting was starting to buzz in his groin. He might be able to muster some enthusiasm for the cause.

"No," Adalind admitted with a sigh and he nodded, a trifle disappointed. "Not a couple, anyway. Maybe one," she said, and he opened an eye again. "I don't know. I suppose I'm really tired, but now it just seems like we need to do it as a matter of principle."

"Principle?"

"Yeah, I need to see that I still have it," she said.

"I suppose if we _need_ to do it," Nick said, sliding the dress off her shoulder, and rolling on his back when she moved out of his grasp to stand up and step out of it. The lacy almond colored slip remained and Nick could see her nipples strain against the fabric. She climbed back into bed, and Nick pulled aside the covers, as she settled back down over him, straddling his hips. She ground against him, slow and hard, and Nick was suddenly awake, and he felt his body respond between them.

He slid his hands up, over her breasts, cupping them against his hands and she pressed against him. She watched him fondle her breasts, a slow smile curling on her face. He loved that smile. He leaned forward and pressed his mouth against hers, sliding his arms around her, fingering her soft hair. She still ground against him, rotating her hips slowly, and Nick pulled away to smile crookedly back, and stared into her soft blue eyes as his hands fanned over her shoulders and pulled the straps of her slip down. He rolled her suddenly underneath him and his smiled widened at her sudden gasp. He leaned down and kissed her and pressed his body against hers.

%%%%%%%%

He spent the next day at home with Kelly, still slightly feverish and therefore unable to attend his daycare. Kelly was still fairly irritable, but he managed to keep fluids down and Nick hesitantly gave him some food. He was basically twiddling his thumbs in the investigation, only available for phone consultations with Hank or Wu, having researched everything he had access to from home. He was glad when Kelly's stomach was settled enough on day three that Nick was able to transport him to the station for a short visit. By day four, he was well enough that Nick was transporting him back to Felicia and daycare, in time for him to watch Hank and Wu get all the credit for closing their latest case. He didn't begrudge them that but he felt a little off his game the rest of the day, out of the loop, it felt like.

He picked up Kelly, and some Chinese, and drove to Adalind's work. She was spending Friday night at the office, having spent every day in the last week there until at least nine p.m. It was after six now, and Nick figured most of the staff had gone home, but he was surprised to see more lawyers than expected in the law office. Kelly trailed behind him, carrying in his beloved, beat-up George in one hand and his police car in the other hand, chatting to Nick in his baby speak, in much better humor than in the days past.

He found Adalind's assistant, Anita, at her desk typing furiously, and wondered if she had been here every night until nine, too. She frowned when Nick's shadow fell across her desk and then smiled when she realized who it was. The smile became more strained when Kelly came into view, and Nick surmised she was not what one would call a kids person. She kept a wary eye on Kelly as he walked around her desk and examined his immediate surroundings.

"Detective Burkhardt," She said pleasantly. Nick spied a Portland Arts Council charity calendar on the wall behind her, and thanked his lucky stars it wasn't on June.

"Is Adalind available?" he asked. The blinds to her office were closed, but the lights were on.

"She stepped out of her office a few moments ago to consult with another colleague," Anita said. "If you'd like to wait, you can have a seat," Anita offered and Nick smiled. He grabbed a potted plant and righted it before Kelly finished knocking it over, and then grabbed Kelly and swung him in his arms.

"That's all right. I'm just going to drop off dinner for her. I can go in her office, right?"

"Dinner, that's very nice. How thoughtful!" Anita replied, staring at him with wide eyes. Nick refrained from rolling his and hefted Kelly against his hip, and pointed to Adalind's office in question.

"Uh, sure, go right on in," Anita said, and then hurried out of her chair to open the door for him when she saw his hands were full. Nick nodded his thanks and then realized Anita was still watching him from the doorway.

"I'm just going to leave her a note," he said, "You don't have to wait on me," he added, hoping she would take the hint, and he was helped when the phone rang at her desk and she hurried to answer it. Nick shut the door behind her and set Kelly down. Kelly wandered around the space, and Nick set the bags of food down on her desk. He found a pad of post-its, glancing up to see what Kelly was doing, before searching for a pen to write with. He found one under a mountain of papers, and smiled at his son when he felt him brush by him.

"We'll just leave mommy a note, okay?" Nick said.

"Okay," Kelly agreed, and Nick smiled again and scribbled a few words on the sticky note. He checked through the bags, switching a few of the cartons before leaving one bag and grabbing the other to take with him. He looked up when he heard footfalls outside the walls and then the door opened a few seconds later.

"Nick!" Adalind said in surprise.

"Hey," Nick said, hoping he wasn't interfering with some lawyerly powwow about to commence in her office.

"Mama!" Kelly moved around the desk and into his mother's arms where she picked him up and held him close to her. Nick watched mother and son smile at one another, Adalind looking happy and less stressed for a moment as she rocked gently side to side with her son.

"I feel like I haven't seen that beautiful smile in forever, Kell-bell." She looked at Nick questioningly. "What are you guys doing."

"Just dropping off some food. Thought we would say hi." Adalind glanced at the bag of food on her desk and smiled gratefully at Nick. She moved around the desk and placed a soft kiss against Nick's cheek.

"Oh my god, you guys are the best," she smiled down at Kelly and kissed him. She glanced up at Nick, a soft look in her eyes Nick recognized well. He shrugged nonchalantly, but turned his head so that when she bounced up on her toes again to kiss him again, it was on his lips and not his cheek. He had missed her too, this week.

"You can stay and eat with me," Adalind said, and Nick raised his eyebrows.

"You sure. We don't want to keep you from work."

"No god, I'm so sick of thinking about work. Here, we can clear off the coffee table," Adalind said, pointing to a sitting area near the windows. Nick moved some papers aside and Adalind grabbed the other bag of food and joined him. She smiled again at her son, listening to him jabber excitedly to her, catching Nick's eye, and Nick noted her spotless white silk blouse, and clean black skirt. Perhaps having Kelly seated on her lap while they ate was not the wisest thing.

"Here, I can take Kelly," Nick said, holding out his arms, and Adalind looked up from where she had just taken her seat on one of her uncomfortably chic chairs in consternation.

"He's fine," she replied dismissively, returning her attention to their son.

"Your blouse," Nick said, and Adalind glanced down at it in confusion. "Kelly. Food," Nick explained. "I can take him."

"Oh. He's fine. I have a couple of spare suits if I need them," Adalind replied, and Nick retracted his arms after a moment.

"Okay," he said, but he was aware of how happy and animated Adalind was holding their son, so he was glad to let it go. Kelly, too, looked quite content in her arms, and Nick reflected it wasn't a bad place to be if you were a Burkhardt. He caught Adalind's eye again and smiled and dug into his food. He and Adalind chatted aimlessly about Nick's work and Kelly for a while. Kelly, who was becoming more adept at talking as his vocabulary grew, interrupted the conversation periodically with comments of his own, making Adalind laugh. He slid off his mother's lap after a few bites of food and wandered over by the windows, looking out at the Portland skyline lit up at night. He pointed and touched the window, and Nick could imagine the grubby fingerprints in her spotless office. He said nothing though as Kelly kept running his fingers over the glass.

"It's been kind of quiet on the Wesen front," Adalind remarked after a moment, and Nick glanced at her in alarm.

"Bite your tongue," Nick said. "I've spent the last few months inundated with Wesen issues and I am enjoying my small reprieve."

She looked at him and nodded, taking a bite of some rice. "Still, it feels sort of like the calm before the storm, don't you think?"

Nick sighed and rolled his eyes. "Seriously, are you trying to jinx me. Can't we just enjoy it for a little bit. I'm sure next week I'll be up to my eyeballs in Wesen issues."

"Sorry," Adalind said. "You're not worried?" she asked after another bite of food. She glanced up at him, meeting his eyes, and Nick looked away after a moment, concentrating on his own meal. Truthfully, yes he was. It _did_ feel like the calm before the storm, and Nick had been through plenty of shit storms lately to recognize the signs. Black Claw was in disarray but that didn't mean they weren't troubled by some of their members from time to time.

"I'm a little concerned, maybe," he admitted, and she met his eyes again, considering. She nodded slowly and glanced at Kelly. Nick followed her gaze and noted that he had his police car in his hand again, but George was MIA. He looked around the office but didn't spy the vibrant hued giraffe anywhere. Adalind finished her meal and set her carton on the table. Kelly drifted near, running his car over the various surfaces. The glass of the table, the leather on the seat, his mother's knee and the part of her shapely thigh that was visible, and the part covered by her skirt. Nick pulled his eyes away from her legs and checked the time on his watch.

"We should probably head out and let you get back to work," Nick said, placing his own empty carton on the table. Kelly drifted around to him, running his car over Nick's legs, before Nick gathered him up in his arms with a growl. Kelly squealed in delight and squirmed, and Nick stood and moved Kelly to his hip and gathered the boxes. Adalind stood, too, and began gathering up the trash.

"Thanks guys, for bringing me dinner," she said, taking what Nick had gathered and stuffing in her trashcan under her desk.

"No problem," Nick said, still looking for George. "You seen George?" he asked, and Adalind frowned.

"Did he bring him in here?"

"Yeah, he had him when we came in your office."

"Well, he couldn't have gone far," Adalind said, and looked around herself. Ten minutes later both came up empty. "You're sure he had him in here," she said.

"Positive."

"I don't see him, Nick."

"I know, but he's here somewhere."

They spent another ten minutes looking, Nick setting his son back down and getting on his hands and knees to look under the furniture. Adalind watched him search for another minute before pulling out the drawers of her desk and file cabinets.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked, and then stared dumbfounded when she pulled George from one of her lower desk drawers.

"Gaar!" Kelly said, snatching him from his mother.

"I don't even know when he did that," Nick lamented.

"He likes to put his toys in drawers and anything else that closes up. He's quite sneaky," Adalind said, and Nick shook his head. He got to his feet and grabbed the police car Kelly had discarded when he reclaimed George. He grabbed his son and hefted him up in his arms again.

"Tell mommy bye-bye," Nick said, and Kelly looked at his mother, considering.

"Bye-bye," Adalind said, waving to her son, and Kelly ducked his head against Nick's neck.

He accepted a kiss from his mother, and Nick planted one against Adalind's lips in goodbye. "I'll see you tonight."

"If you're still awake," Adalind muttered.

"Wake me if I'm not," Nick said, and strode out of the office.

"Bye-bye," Kelly chanted softly and Nick caught her eye one last time before she was out of sight.

%%%%%%%%

"Ohh, Kelly," Nick groaned, shifting his son from his shoulder to his car seat. "You're getting big," Nick noted with a pang. It didn't seem possible that in only a few short months his son would be two. He could still remember bringing him home like it was yesterday, though so much had happened since then it was a wonder he wasn't much older.

He strapped his son in and shut the car door, walking around the vehicle to the driver's side, and had his hand on the door handle when he paused, listening. He turned and cocked his head, tracking the sound that had attracted his attention and moved his hand over his gun.

He had it pulled and aimed directly at Meisner's head when he stepped from the shadows.

"Nick." Meisner said.

"What do you think you're doing?" Nick asked, lowering his gun after a short inner debate. He holstered his weapon when another thought struck them. "This is Adalind's workplace," he said. "What are you doing _here?"_

He was suddenly filled with fear. Another threat on her? He glanced back at his car, at Kelly ensconced inside.

"What's going on?" Nick asked and Meisner stepped closer.

"Nothing," Meisner said.

"Nothing!" Nick repeated. "Then what are you doing here? Tell me what's going on."

"I assure you, there is no threat against Adalind. I'm only here…keeping an eye on her."

"Keeping an eye on her?"

"I…check in on her from time to time, see how she's doing."

Nick rocked back on his heels, not sure what he thought about this.

"Does she know this?" Nick asked. She had never mentioned Meisner being at her office, checking in on her.

"No," Meisner said, and Nick frowned. She wasn't aware she was being spied on. The thought unsettled Nick, and while it only being Meisner should have been a comfort, it wasn't. Nick wasn't blind to the fact that Meisner seemed to be infatuated with Adalind. He knew Meisner had been instrumental in getting Adalind to his mother, that he had helped her through Diana's birth. The knowledge didn't sit well with Nick, who was also aware that Adalind seemed to regard Meisner with gratitude and adoration, and he was aware enough that if it had been Meisner she had slept with instead of Nick, she could be with him instead in much the same manner she wound up living with Nick.

"Then maybe you shouldn't be here," Nick said coldly.

"She's doing okay," Meisner asked. "After everything?"

He of course was referring to her kidnapping and subsequent beatings—plural—she had taken as a result. Nick's mouth set angrily, the reminder of her ordeal unwelcome. She had suffered some physical and mental trauma. She had not, initially, been okay. _They_ had not been okay. It had taken a while for her to stop having nightmares about losing Kelly, and Nick. She had feared the reemergence of Juliette from Eve—though only temporary due to the toxin—would take Nick and their child away from her. It had been the first truly difficult patch they had had to work through as a couple and Nick wasn't wanting to experience it again any time soon.

"She's fine," he said shortly.

"That's good," he said, and Nick narrowed his eyes.

"Right. Well, you can leave now," Nick said rudely and Meisner met his eyes.

"Actually I do have something to discuss with you," Meisner said.

"Great, let's have it."

"Not here. Meet me at The Wall tomorrow night. We can discuss it there."

"Fine," Nick said. "If that's all."

The corners of Meisner's mouth turned up briefly and he slipped back into the shadows.

"I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't hang around here, spying on her all the time. It's creepy," Nick called in a warning, but Meisner was already gone.

%%%%%%%

Thoughts, comments, remarks?


	3. Chapter 3

AN: That moment as you're rewatching the series (on a loop that you've seen four times now, no joke) and you realize you missed a key piece of information that might blow a hole in the story you've already written eleven chapters of. Sigh.

Time for some story and plot edits.

As I prepare to undertake some changes so as I can live with myself and this story, here's the next chapter.

%%%%%%%%

He had been to the Wall a few times now since his awareness of its existence, but each time it seemed he discovered something new about the place. Not surprising really, given the space and scope of the size of the organization. Its physical headquarters in Portland was a surprising maze of underground tunnels and bunkers, more than three times the size of the building that sat above ground over it. He was being led through one of the tunnels now, and he glanced at his surroundings with interest.

Most of the compound looked the same: utilitarian. Dull and practical. Devoid of personality, much like those he associated with the organization.

Except for Trubel.

There were quite a few tunnels with locked rooms, a few Wesen the Wall had reprogrammed like Eve, in the process of reprogramming, or being held for interrogation. It was cold and precise, much like the Wesen weapons it produced, Nick thought, thinking of Eve, and impersonal.

The agent leading him through the compound was silent, and Nick wondered if it was another trained Wesen, another Grimm even, or just somebody with a dog in the fight.

He thought he recognized a few familiar markings along the wall, orienting him to where he was at. His companion stopped at the door that led to what Nick always took as the command center of the organization and pressed his thumb against a fingerprint scanner and the door opened. He gestured to Nick to precede him and Nick glanced at him warily and stepped into the room, wondering if talking was against protocol here.

He looked around but didn't see Meisner and then realized his companion was indicating he follow. They moved through the command center and exited through another door to the side and Nick was led down another corridor before Nameless pointed to a bench along the side and waited until Nick took a seat. There was another scan next to what appeared to be a callbox and finally some conversation with someone on the other end of the speaker, but no one spoke with Nick. A second later Nameless left him and Nick surmised he was to wait here until Meisner or someone else joined him.

He had never been particularly good at waiting, he reflected.

He stood up after a moment and wandered the corridor, trying to guess what was behind the eight doors that dotted the hallway. He used his Grimm hearing to listen, but couldn't make out any noise and figured they must be empty or well soundproofed.

He moved farther down the hall, placing his hand on one of the door knobs and had a moment where he wondered if it was wise to try to open something even the Wall found important to lock in. He released the handle without trying it and walked back the way he came. He examined the doors ahead of where he had been seated, finding more of the same, until he came across a door with a glass panel that looked down another hallway.

He tried the door, but it was locked. He looked at the thumbprint reader and hesitantly moved his hand over it, wondering if he would set off alarms or lockdown if he pressed his thumb against it, and what he would do if it didn't and it actually worked. He moved his thumb, hovering just over the screen when he heard a noise and pulled his hand away quickly. He turned around, preparing a barbed comment, and choked on his words.

"Hello."

"Hi," He said, taking in the sight before him.

A little girl, maybe about six or seven, stood behind him watching him carefully.

Did Hadrian's Wall take in children this young? What was she doing here? Had she been borne from one of its captures and raised here?

She looked past Nick to the scanner on the wall, and he heard something click and the door popped open. He swiveled his head back to stare at her, a bright purple glow slowly fading from her eyes and Nick started in surprise.

A Wesen child. Of course. He looked her over carefully, noting her blond hair and swallowed against a lump forming in his throat. It wasn't possible, he reminded himself. She was too old to be Adalind's Diana. Diana wasn't more than a year or so older than Kelly, this one at least twice that.

She stared at him a moment and then walked past him, through the door, which widened to allow her to pass and then she turned a few feet into the corridor to look at him expectantly and Nick followed without conscious thought. He heard the door click and lock behind him and she watched him approach her slowly after a moment of decision.

"Hello," Nick said again, wondering if he should be fearing what this child might be capable of. What kind of children did the Wall produce? What kind of organization used children to defeat an uprising? Were they stealing children and converting them over to the resistance? Using them to manipulate members of Black Claw?

She regarded him solemnly, looking up at him, and he squatted down in front of her, trying to make himself less imposing. Her eyes glowed with that purple tint again at his nearness and he hoped he hadn't just made himself vulnerable. Most Wesen children were still unaware, or grappling with their ability, though Nick didn't think she was still trying to understand what she was or her power.

"I'm Nick," he said trying for a smile, and she stared back. "I'm a detective with the Portland P.D. What's your name?"

He ran his eyes over her pretty face, taking in her features while he was up close. He watched her do the same with him. She was dressed in black leggings and a sparkly shirt, looking for all the world like any other elementary-aged child except for her eyes and the supernatural abilities he had just witnessed. Her eyes still glowed faintly purple, and he couldn't tell what color they were beyond that.

Didn't know if they would be the same shade of blue as Adalind's.

He didn't know what he was expecting. She was much too old to be Adalind's daughter, and other than the blonde hair he wasn't really sure if there were much other similarities except maybe where he wanted to see them. Diana was in Austria, being raised by the royals, far away from Portland and her mother.

"You're a Grimm," the child said, and Nick narrowed his eyes in shock, surprised to hear her speak and the nature of her observation. She didn't appear to fear that or him, but she watched him curiously, waiting to see what he would do next. He nodded after a moment.

"That's right," he said. There was no denying that fact. "I'm not going to hurt you," he assured, and she clasped her small hands in front of her as though expecting no less.

"What's your name?" Nick asked again. She looked away from him, the glow intensifying and Nick registered a noise behind him. He glanced back at the door, noted a shadow coming from the hallway outside of it, and when he looked back the child was gone.

He stood, staring at the spot where she had been, looking down the hallway, and thought he might have heard her feet as they travelled across the hard concrete out of sight, away from him, but the door behind him opened and Trubel appeared.

"Trubel!" Nick said in surprise.

"Nick!" she responded in kind. "How'd you get in here?"

"Uh, um," Nick said, glancing back again where the girl had disappeared. "I'm not sure," he said, and Trubel frowned.

"You okay?" she asked.

He nearly shook his head, but he was unsure how to articulate what he saw. _If_ he should articulate what he saw. How much did Trubel know about what went on here? She was more involved with the Wall than Nick, who had mostly kept his distance from the organization, remaining a free agent Grimm in the fighting against the Wesen uprising and Black Claw. Did she know it housed Wesen children? It didn't seem like the kind of thing she would be okay with, but he didn't have time to dwell on it when she told him Meisner was looking for him.

He followed Trubel back out into the hallway where he had come from. He wondered briefly where the child had come from when she had found him.

"In here," Trubel indicated, and slid her thumb over the access screen. It beeped a second later and the door clicked. Nick followed Trubel in and glanced around. The room was small and plain. Purely functional. There was a map on a table and clear plexi board with dots stickered randomly over it. Nick peered closer, and recognized the dots as points of interest in Portland. He leaned over the desk and then jerked his head up to the door when it opened and Eve appeared.

He narrowed his eyes, meeting her typically blank stare. Trubel looked at her as well, her jaw clenching slightly before glancing at Nick. Nick took a page from Eve's book and ignored her, focusing instead on the map laid over the desk. He noted some of the places on there had been battles they had fought in the uprising. So that's what this meeting was about: Black Claw.

He glanced at Eve and told himself he should have figured. When Eve showed up it was a given. They had been working in tandem over the last year to quell the uprising, things mostly settled from her resurgence as Juliette, though because of it, Nick thought he could detect more animation behind those carefully blank eyes. They weren't as lifeless as he had previously written off, as she insisted, but it had been too much and too long now for Nick to even care.

He had other concerns, his son and Adalind chief among them and had moved on long ago. Eve stared back at him, watching him fit the pieces of the puzzle together; come to the conclusion as to why he had been asked here. He knew it hadn't been wise to jinx it. He had a feeling Wesen problems were about to reenter his life in a big way.

He didn't even know how true that statement would wind up being.

%%%%%%%%

"Hey," Adalind said when he stepped into the loft. He tossed his keys into the bowl for them and strode over to the dining table where she had most of it covered by papers. He found Kelly playing on the floor, his toys and most of the living area in disarray.

"Hey yourself," he said bending down to kiss her. He moved to his son, returning the wide grin Kelly gave him, running his fingers through his son's soft hair.

"Where have you been?" she asked. He moved to the fridge where he found a beer and pulled it out. He twisted off the top and took a pull from it. He kept his back to her for a moment, debating, but if something was getting ready to blow up in the uprising she needed to be aware.

"The Wall," he said. "Meisner contacted me."

"Oh," she replied, and he turned to face her. "I guess I shouldn't have said something, huh. I kind of liked the fact we haven't had to fear for our lives in a while."

"Not sure we will have to any more than normal. Just looking at maybe some strategic moves to keep them from reorganizing. They're fairly scattered right now, but this might be the blow we need to keep them down. We're looking into it."

"Ah," she said, turning back to her documents. He took another drink, staring at the back of her blond head, remembering the little girl he had seen at the Wall. They didn't talk about her daughter often. Nick had helped to keep Diana from Adalind, an action he wasn't sure if he would be so okay with now, knowing her better and seeing her as a mother with his son. He regretted the pain he had caused her with that, but their past had been a series of devastating blows to one another and all he could do was say he was sorry and do differently now they were together. It was the same with her. She had dealt him a few setbacks in life, and they could keep dwelling on the pain and trying to inflict misery on one another or they could focus on the one good thing they had had between them, their son, and use it to forge a different path together.

The few conversations they had had about Diana had been brief, Adalind mostly expressing her grief and Nick apologizing and assuring her that under the care of the royals she would at least be well taken care of. It was all they could cling to, and though it hadn't been much, Adalind seemed to take solace in the fact her daughter was at least most likely being treated like the royalty she was. He had not pursued her whereabouts, though Renard, her father, would have more contacts with royals and know where to begin on that front better than Nick.

He had never asked Eve either, although she had only accompanied Diana so far as the helicopter, so it was unlikely she had much information as to Diana's whereabouts in Austria. Plus, he had learned to avoid all unnecessary conversation with Eve, finding initial interaction with her painful and then later fruitless.

"You okay?"

He realized Adalind was looking at him with concern and he smiled, swallowing the sip of beer he had just taken and moved away from the kitchen towards her.

"I'm fine. Just thinking," he said.

"About?" she drawled, and he set his beer on the table beside her and kissed her neck, her shoulder, burying his head against her as he enjoyed the feel of her.

"You," he said, and she smiled and chuckled lightly.

"No, you're not," she replied moving her head aside and looking at him. He sighed and grabbed his beer again, taking another sip as he considered how to respond to her allegation. He debated about telling her what he saw at the Wall. The little girl that had briefly reminded him of Diana. He met her eyes, penetrating and slightly anxious and he shook his head.

"Just the mission," he said, knowing that she would take his apprehension as regarding that, and it was close enough to the truth to keep her from probing further. He didn't want to bring up old pain about her daughter. Didn't know what his comment about seeing a child there would do to her except make her remember her own had been taken from her, and Nick had been instrumental in the undertaking.

He couldn't shake his feeling about the child, almost opened his mouth to ask her what hexenbiest children were like; what kind of powers they had when they were young, but nothing good would come from that conversation.

It was too out of left field, and she would find it suspect he was asking about it now, or wonder if he had seen something in Kelly that had him asking. He looked at Kelly, wondering what he would do if his son demonstrated any of the Hexenbiest tendencies. Could not imagine loving him any less than he did now, just as he could not fathom his son's sweet baby face morphing into a rotting corpse's skull. Didn't think or even know if hexenbiest children woged that young, but again he couldn't just ask the question without alarming her.

He would have to wait until he saw Monroe and Rosalee.

"How's work?"

She scoffed. "Why did I take this on again? I'm only in the first week of this and already I feel like I've spent a year on this. There's so many motions to file and depositions and our client is …"

"A pain in the ass?" Nick supplied.

"Particular," she said, smiling a little at his word choice.

"Sounds like you need a break," Nick said. He needed to get his mind off of a few things too.

"I would love a break, but I still have so much work to do."

"Oh, no. I've given you up every night this week. I'm not giving you up Saturday night, too. Tonight you're mine. We are going to go out."

"We are?" she asked, brightening a little. They rarely went out anywhere together, Nick reflected. When was the last time he had taken her out? It wasn't like he was ashamed of her, but going out either meant taking Kelly, or finding a sitter (Rosalee) and so that limited their time out together, and that was before you factored in either of their jobs and the crazy hours they worked sometimes, and the admittedly rare instances when his life now with Adalind and his past with Juliette intersected. Those were painful and always put a damper on their outings, but it had only happened a few times.

Largely because Nick become more conscious of places he took Adalind. Tried to avoid places he and Juliette had frequented as a couple, but it had been years now since he and Juliette had been together, and people broke up didn't they, so why should he worry so much about it?

"Where are we going?" she asked him, blue eyes dancing.

Yes, where? Nick pondered.

%%%%%%%%

Comments, concerns, questions?


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Okay, there's no Grimm eppy this week? What?! Say it ain't so.

Meanwhile three little words I missed continue to thwart me. Argh. (We may just go with it).

%%%%%%%%

"Wow, I see you went all out." He couldn't be sure, but he thought there might be a hint of sarcasm in her statement. "Hoping I'll be bestowing a little gratitude tonight, are we?"

"What? You think I have ulterior motives?"

"I know you have ulterior motives but I can't figure out if it's just to get my mind off work, whatever's going on at H.W. that you don't want to tell me, or if you're just really hoping I'm so thankful for this diversion that I'll just fall at your feet once we're home. I feel like if this were just about sex you wouldn't have went with Taglianos."

"Wow, here, you want my knife to cut me better?" he asked, and she gave him a look and a brief smirk. "We could have stayed in. No wonder I hardly ever take you anywhere," Nick commented, smiling when the waitress came to their table.

Taglianos was an Italian family restaurant, on the eastern edge of Portland Proper. It was moderately priced, and had a decent menu, and it also appealed to families, and since Kelly was riding along with them tonight, Nick had chosen it and not something more spectacular had they been alone. He had also never had to arrest anyone in, outside, or around it, deal with any Wesen issues related to it, or do anything else other than enjoy the food the handful of times he had eaten here before, twice with his old patrol partner, and once with a woman he had taken here on a date when he had been a newly anointed officer, recently graduated from the academy, a couple of years before he met Juliette.

Given Adalind's reaction to the place maybe he shouldn't had been so quick to blame the failure of that relationship on too different philosophies.

"Sorry," Adalind said, when the waitress left with their drink order, and Nick raised his eyebrows in response, but kept his eyes focused on the menu.

"This is really very nice, and I know we don't get to go out much with everything that's usually going on. I didn't mean to sound ungrateful," she said, and Nick bit down a smile. He laid his menu on the table and felt Adalind's hand glide over his. "Nick," she said.

"So, you're saying you are appreciative? If only I could believe it. Maybe…if there was some way you could _show_ your appreciation. Later of course, when we're alone."

"Honestly," Adalind said, smacking the back of his hand and pulling her arm away. "On second thought, may I see that knife," she smiled beatifically, and Nick returned the grin.

"Nope, my feelings are hurt. Last time I do anything nice for you." They both looked at Kelly, sitting at the head of their booth in a high chair when he jabbered something loudly.

"How did you find this place anyway? It's kind of off the beaten path for you isn't it?"

"My patrol partner when I first joined the police force showed me it. His wife was Italian. Her family owned it at that time, but I think it's changed hands since then. We ate here a few times."

Adalind nodded. "What were you like back then?" she asked and Nick glanced up at her in surprise. "As the newly minted Officer Burkhardt? You don't talk much about your past."

He looked at Kelly, watching him chew on a piece of breadstick. That was because it seemed like his life was divided up into three sections. His life before he was a Grimm, his life with Juliette, and his life after. Adalind was front and center in his life after. Juliette was a difficult subject between them, and she knew a portion of that history anyway, had shaped a fair amount of it. He had never really thought she was all that interested in anything that came before then. He thought back to his early days with the force and snorted.

"What was I like? Young," Nick said, and meant it in more than just his age. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Someone else's lifetime, so disjointed he was now from the young man then. Adalind smiled and leaned forward, and he teased Kelly with another bite of bread before Kelly gave him a cheeky grin and popped it in his mouth.

"I think I was twenty-three? I had just finished college like a year before and joined the academy a week after my graduation. I was as fresh-faced and idealistic as they come," he said, reflecting. What that young man would say if he could see his older self now. He sobered a little, wondering if he would be appalled at his future self as he felt he would be. So far in so many ways from the officer who had sworn to uphold the law, protect and serve its citizens. He still protected and served for the most part, but he had broken so many laws, so many things he would have thought impossible when he was swearing his oaths. The younger him would have probably burned the older him's badge. Definitely would have arrested him for…how many murders now? Assault. There were some B & E's dotted in there, too. Could imagine the younger him reading his rights, almost breathless with adrenaline and excitement for taking someone like he was now off the streets.

Yes, there were somewhat mitigating factors. He was a Grimm fighting Wesen. Still, he wasn't sure if that gave him carte blanche for everything he had done from the moment he realized that to the present.

"Hey," Adalind broke in. "Why the face?" He looked up into her crystalline blue eyes, soft and compassionate, and was reminded how startling it was how much he loved her. She was a surprising bright spot in the here and now, one his younger self would have only seen as a pretty girl way out of his league. He wondered if he would have had the bravado then to have had approached her. She, as a young lawyer—probably not even a law student then—probably wouldn't have given him the time of day or maybe she would have laughed, entertained the idea of him, knowing it would never go anywhere. He wondered if maybe she would have said yes if he had asked her out then.

"Just thinking…not sure if the younger me would approve of the older me now."

"A lot has happened. I'm sure the younger you would cut the older you some slack, knowing some of that."

"I don't know. Maybe," he said.

"Sooo…the young Officer Burkhardt was a straight-laced, do-gooder, huh? Helped old ladies cross the street? Cited people for jaywalking? I don't know. He doesn't really sound that different from the Detective Burkhardt we all know and love."

Nick smiled a little. "Sort of. Maybe he wasn't that bad. Or that good."

"Hmm…I sort of like the Detective Burkhardt when he's a little naughty," Adalind said with a smirk, and he leaned back in his booth, trying to maintain his cool, but his lips twitched when she winked at him.

She was definitely right. Christ, given everything he had had thrown at him and dealt with his younger self's head probably would have exploded at this point. What did that kid know?

"I hadn't noticed," Nick said, looking at Kelly when he said something in his baby speak. Adalind grinned wider.

"I'll be sure to be louder voicing my approval next time you are," Adalind said, and Nick felt one side of his mouth curl into a smile despite his efforts to remain unaffected.

"You're plenty loud now, don't worry."

"Really. Doesn't seem like you mind," Adalind replied.

He didn't. Loved when she was loud and breathless and begging him to make her come undone. Officer Burkhardt might have the edge with ethical and moral fortitude, but Detective Burkhardt was burying him in the ground in the sexcapades and sexual satisfaction department. Certainly he had more fun now in the sack than he had then, and he had thought he was having plenty of fun back then just getting to _have_ sex, so that showed what he knew. Recalled he hadn't closed the deal with the other girl he had taken here all those years ago.

"I used to spend hours on stuff, little stuff, basic things that would just grab my attention or hit me the wrong way. I'd research them and then bug whatever detective or higher ranking officer had the case until it panned out and they solved it and made an arrest."

He glanced up, noting she was watching him, her chin propped up on her hand, one elbow on the table, smiling.

"My old patrol partner when I first started used to get so annoyed. He was five years from retirement and just wanted to ride out the rest of his time in peace. I think he was glad to be rid of me when I finally was promoted to my own car."

"So when did you meet Hank? When you made detective?"

"I knew of Hank, but we never worked much together. He had been a detective for about five years when the Captain partnered us."

"So was the young Officer Burkhardt all work and no play? What did you do for fun and excitement? You didn't know about Wesen and Grimms. You said your aunt had never told you."

No, he hadn't. At twenty-three he had already moved eight times in the eleven years his Aunt Marie had had custody of him, most of it before he had turned nineteen. That was when he had landed in Oregon. He had never had many close friends until he came to Portland. He had moved constantly in his adolescence and school was difficult if next to impossible to build and maintain lasting friendships, and he stood out like a sore thumb, both the new kid and the orphan. There had only been one brief period where they had remained in one spot for any length of time, and that had been when he was fifteen.

It had been difficult, but it had always seemed like an adventure, his Aunt Marie, a bookish, quiet woman with a mischievous glint in her eye who had borne the responsibility of being saddled with her sister's grief-stricken boy, treated him like she was her own and he had clung to her, the only family he had remaining, welcoming a diversion from the looks and the treatment he received as the boy with no parents.

By the time he arrived in Oregon, he had been roughly on his own for almost a year, aimlessly drifting despite being tired of wandering the country and wanting to set up roots, but clueless as to what he wanted to do in life. She had suggested more than once taking a few courses at the community college and finally, more to appease her and get her off his back than anything else, he had enrolled and been taken by surprise how much he enjoyed it. She had kept up the subtle (and at times, not so subtle) encouragement and Nick had continued his education until that fateful day in the quad when an officer from the Portland P.D. had struck up a conversation with him and set him on the path to his present day career.

"I kept busy."

"Mm-hmm. Officer Burkhardt a heartbreaker, was he?"

"No," he said smiling.

"Uh-huh. You mean to tell me you didn't use those boyishly handsome good looks to devastating effect?"

"'Fraid not. Officer Burkhardt had many cold and lonely nights."

"Hm. Seems Detective Burkhardt learned how to lay on the charm sometime between then and now."

"Ha. Yes, women just started falling into my lap. I think it was when I made detective and got out of uniform. I looked like a dork in uniform. A twelve-year-old dork."

She widened her smile. "Oh, now I have to see a picture."

"I'm pretty sure I burned all evidence of that," Nick said, taking a bite of his breadstick. Actually, his police academy graduation photo was in storage, as was a god-awful picture of him in uniform for a newspaper article where he had received a commendation. Juliette had teased him mercilessly when she had seen it, and he had borne it good-naturedly because he had loved her smile and to see her laugh. He spent a year in uniform after he met her before he was promoted to detective.

"I'm sure the station has copies or records. The academy surely does," she replied and he glanced up with a warning look and she laughed a little and took a sip of her drink. "It can't be that bad."

"Believe me when I say I'm protecting our relationship by saying you should never, ever, look for those photos."

"If you're thinking I'm going to be disappointed, fear not. I'm completely impressed by Detective Burkhardt's considerable skills. A photo isn't going to sway me from him."

"It might be best not to risk it."

%%%%%%%%%

This was what happened when you were involved with a beautiful woman. They made you do stupid things. They made you stupid, period.

"Oh my god," Adalind said, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Okay, you saw it," Nick said, grabbing her arm and attempting to pull her away.

"Look at you!" she said, wriggling out of his grasp. He put his hands on his hips and glanced back at Kelly, who was wandering around one of the study cubicles.

"You don't look like you're twelve," she said, biting back a smile. "Sixteen…maybe fifteen at the youngest."

"Okay," he said, grabbing for her again, and this time she let him get a hold of her. She wrapped her arms around him and looked down at the Portland Police Academy yearbook photo of one Cadet Burkhardt, aged twenty-two.

"Are you happy?" he asked.

"You don't even know," she managed, trying not to laugh. He gave her a look and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, and Nick reflected it had been _her_ considerable charms that had brought them here despite his better judgment. Or Nick was just a sucker.

Wouldn't be the first time she had suckered him either, with her pouty lips and the promise of something more.

She pulled away with a grin and turned back to the yearbook photo. "You look so…innocent." She said.

"Naïve. Naïve is the word you're looking for," Nick replied, catching sight of the top of Kelly's head as he went around the study cubicles the next row over, before wandering back towards his parents.

"That sweet face. I feel almost bad, knowing I've taken ruthless advantage of it, time and time again."

"Yes, I notice it never stopped you."

"Thank goodness, huh? Think what you'd be missing if it did."

"Well, you know what they say. Payback is a bitch," Nick replied.

"Looking to dish out a little tonight, are you?"

"If you're not careful," he said, "So I'd watch it."

She grinned and kissed him again and picked up the book. "Oh my god, what happened to your hair! Did they buzz it all off? I don't think I've ever seen your ears stick out that much!"

Nick snatched the book away and closed it with a snap. She bit back another smile and stared at him expectantly.

"All right, we went to the police library. You've had your kicks. It's time to go home."

"Can we buy a copy of this?" she asked, trying to reach for it but he jerked it out of her way and held it behind him above his head.

She moved again, but Nick used his other hand to block her attempt. She glared, and then lurched for it, Nick neatly evading her, taking advantage of her position to kiss her hotly. She tried again, and Nick did the same, enjoying this exchange more than he should have. He thought she would try another go at it, but she just pressed close against his body and kissed him long and deep, sliding her fingers through his hair, and opening her mouth under his, Nick getting drawn into it, feeling the need to run his hands over her when she tried suddenly for the yearbook again. He had half been expecting it, and avoided her hand again.

She relented for a moment, another wide smile, clearly enjoying this exercise a little, too, and Nick had the temptation to spin her around and spank her with it. Problem was they'd both probably like it too much. His mind flashed on bending her over the desk and having his way with her, but they were in a public place for one, albeit late at night and there weren't very many people around; and two, Kelly was with them.

He glanced around in alarm, reminded he hadn't seen or heard Kelly in the last minute or so. "Where's Kelly?"

She sobered immediately and looked around as well, calling out his name in a sharp voice, while Nick used his Grimm hearing to try to isolate his son's voice. He heard something, and knelt down and looked under the cubicles and found his son, four rows over on the floor, underneath one of the study chairs.

"Kelly," Nick said, and Kelly spotted him and grinned, the same wide smile Nick had just seen on his mother, and Nick breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Adalind when he felt her bend down beside him and she, too, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Kell-bell, come over here to mommy," and Kelly shook his head and got to his feet. Nick moved too, caught sight of his son's light brown hair again as he stood. He heard Kelly laugh, obviously thinking this was a game, and Nick went one way and Adalind went the other to come behind her son.

His son's laughter intensified, and Nick was reminded they were in a library, granted the police one, but there were a couple of officers and a few cadets studying nearby. Kelly caught sight of him, and turned the other way, and was captured by Adalind who hefted him in her arms with a "Gotcha!"

She grinned at Nick, the love and affection in her eyes as she regarded her family, and Nick felt his heart twist in his chest at the look.


	5. Chapter 5

%%%%%%%

"So tell me this again," Monroe said, having paused mid-sip to stare at Nick. He lowered his beer bottle back to his side and waited.

"I was at the wall, and this girl, this little girl came up to me and she…she looked…I thought…she reminded me of Diana," Nick said. "Except she was too old to be Diana, like six or seven, maybe?"

"They have children at the Wall? Wesen children?"

"I—I guess so. I mean, she was there. She was definitely Wesen. She somehow unlocked an electronically locked door and I mean, she appeared—and disappeared—from nowhere."

"They take people's children?" Monroe breathed, shaking his head. "See that—that right there—I don't think we need to be involved with them anymore than necessary, you know what I mean?"

"I don't know. I don't know why she's there. I've never seen any children at the Wall any other time I've been there. Trubel and Meisner have never mentioned anything about children."

"Are they trying to mold them into more Eves?" Monroe asked, looking a bit horrified by the idea.

"I don't know. Why else would they have her?"

"She looked like Diana?"

Nick shrugged and took a sip of his beer. They were standing in Monroe's kitchen, Rosalee busy at the Spice shop for the day.

"Yeah, she was blond, and—and—I don't know. I mean—maybe—she had a chin sort of like Adalind's? It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud. I mean, she was blond, that's it. That's really the extent of the resemblance. God, I'm glad I didn't say anything to Adalind."

"You haven't told Adalind?"

"What am I going to tell her? _I saw a little girl the other day that reminded me of your daughter. Remember the one I helped steal from you and then let slip away with the royals_?"

"Okay, I see where maybe you might have some hesitation bring it up."

"I mean, what good is bringing it up going to do with her other than cause her pain."

"Nick, if they've got children—man—that's just wrong. You gotta do something."

"What?" Nick asked in frustration. "I don't know who she is, or where she came from, or why she's even there. I mean, do Wesen children transition that young?"

"You said she was about six or seven?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"I don't know. Not usually. I mean it's generally more of a puberty/adolescence thing when we have like our first major woge, but different species are different. Some transition as early as nine or ten. So she might just be ahead of the curve. You said she unlocked the door?"

"Yeah, an electronic door. Locked and unlocked it. Like telekinetically."

"Sounds maybe…" Monroe broke off, hesitating. "Kind of like a hexenbiest," he said, and looked at Nick.

Nick stared back. That had been what he had thought, too. The glowing purple eyes when she was using her powers. He had vaguely remembered Diana doing the same—remembered a picture of her his mom had sent when she had levitated objects in the air. He wished he still had that picture now, but he had deleted it as soon as she sent it, not wanting anyone to discover where Diana was and who she was with.

Diana had been exceptionally powerful given whatever Adalind had done to regain her Hexenbiest powers. She was the child of both a Hexenbiest and Zauberbiest, not a mix of anatomy like Kelly, who had yet to demonstrate any supernatural ability, and Nick swallowed. He was the child of a Grimm and a Hexenbiest, and was destined to go one way or the other, or even, perhaps, a blend of the two, but he would eventually exhibit something he inherited from his parents.

He hadn't thought about Kelly's destiny, what his future might be like in a long while. He had done his best to focus on the here and now with Kelly, protect his immediate future. His life as a supernatural child was certain to be difficult. It had taken Nick decades before he had transitioned and finally made aware of his lineage—had started piercing the veil so to speak. Every day that passed without incident, with Kelly as a normal, human child was one Nick told himself was a good one.

He realized now that both he, and Adalind, had taken Eve's pronunciation of Kelly— _he's like you—_ to heart, that it meant she saw something in their son that meant he had likely inherited Nick's Grimm genes. Now he wondered if they both were just grasping for what they both perceived would to easiest to deal with—or not have to deal with, as it were. If he truly was a hundred percent Grimm, or going to be, they most likely wouldn't have to deal with anything but a normal child for most of the next fifteen to twenty years, if not longer. That was much easier to deal with than the fact their son might be in this Wesen fight, that he might be something that was hunted as much as the one doing the hunting.

"I know," Nick said quietly. "It's what I thought too."

"Hexenbiests…Nick, you know as well as I do how dangerous and deadly they can be. If the Wall has one that's a child—"

Monroe broke off and they were both quiet for a while.

"What was she like? I mean not just physically. How did she seem?"

Nick took another sip of his beer.

"She wasn't afraid of me. She knew I was a Grimm," he said.

"She said something?"

"Yeah, told me. She was quiet. We just sort of…watched the other. She was as curious about me as I was her, but not—not because I was a Grimm, I don't think. She was just curious about _me_." He met Monroe's eyes, and looked away remembering.

"I think she wasn't supposed to be there either," he said.

"Either?"

"Yeah, I had been kind of…exploring through the corridor, but I don't have any access to anything so I didn't get very far. The corridor—the other corridor, the door she unlocked—I had been contemplating trying to open it, and that's when she just appeared. She unlocked it, and she went through and…and it was like I was _supposed_ to follow her. She was just watching me as I walked towards her. Waiting for something.

"I tried to get her to tell me her name, but she didn't talk, at first. Then she told me she knew I was a Grimm, but like I said, she didn't seem bothered by it."

"Maybe she didn't really understand what it was?" Monroe offered, but he didn't seem convinced either. Nick shook his head.

"No, she knew what I was; what it meant. She heard something—Trubel coming, I guess—and it was like she knew she wasn't supposed to be there, too, or be seen, maybe. I looked to the sound and she was gone when I turned back."

"Well, if they're hiding her—if she's keeping out of sight—that would explain maybe why Trubel or you had never seen or said anything about children at the Wall."

"The question is why are they hiding her?" Nick said.

"Are you kidding me? Who's going to be on board with the government stealing people's children, even if they're Wesen children, and reprogramming them for a war against Wesen?"

"I just don't know what they're doing," Nick replied.

"Nick, if they're stealing people's children—man—that's wrong. They're kids."

Nick nodded slowly. Yes, he knew that, he did. What if they took Kelly? Supposedly they weren't interested in Nick and Adalind's child, but maybe that's because he hadn't given them any reason to be interested. If he changed—if he became more Wesen than Grimm—maybe their interest would change, too.

"Nick, you have to do something,"

"What? I don't have any access to that place. I'm only able to move around there by invitation, and usually I'm under escort. It's not like I can just wander around wherever I want. And everything's under lock and key anyway. There's all these thumbprint scanners and god knows what else."

"Nick. You've got to find out who she is and what she's doing there."

Dammit, he was right. He wouldn't be able to rest until he figured out why Hadrian's Wall had a child within its compound. If there were more children.

"I don't know who I can trust with this, Monroe," Nick said. "I can't tell Adalind—or Rosalee—it would only upset them. I don't think Trubel knows—"

"But you're not sure," Monroe said nodding.

"It's not that." But maybe it was. She had known more about Juliette's final moments than she had let on. Maybe this situation was similar. "I'm just not sure how much I should involve her, until I know more."

"But you agree we need to find out more."

"Yeah, but for now—"

"I got it. This stays between me and you. Whatever I can do to help man, name it."

Nick nodded, finishing off his beer. "If I figure that out, I'll let you know."

"You need to figure out a reason to get back in there."

"I got that. Meisner wants to plan another op to strike out what remains of Black Claw, make sure they don't reorganize and come at us again."

"Good, that should give you plenty of reason to go to the compound."

"Yeah, maybe. Now I just need plenty of reason to move about it freely."

"Maybe it's time you asked for some."

"What?"

"Freedom to move about. I'd say you've earned it."

"Yeah, if I'm granted it I'm still under surveillance twenty-four seven when I'm there. Not to mention what strings might be attached to being granted that kind of freedom."

"Hmm. Can't believe you never wanted to join their cause," Monroe said sarcastically.

%%%%%%%

It would be another two weeks before Nick was recalled back to the Wall. In the meantime, he had shouldered more and more of the responsibility of taking care of Kelly; readying him most mornings to be dropped off at daycare, thirty minutes the other way from the precinct, and hustling each night to pick him up by six, when it closed.

He thought Kelly might be reacting a little to the change in his routine, and hoped Adalind hadn't noticed it. She was struggling a bit, too, to juggle everything that had been thrown at her on top of being a mother, and she worried at least twice a day about letting Kelly, or even Nick, down in that aspect.

They hadn't seen much of each other in the last couple of weeks, either. She came home after eight or nine o'clock most every night and was up and gone to work by seven. Due to her schedule, and the Rosalee pocket card he kept claiming to want to save, though he wasn't sure how effective he was really being with that, Nick tried to be home for his son, and keep as much to a schedule as possible, keep him calm and not pass him off to others to be taken care of.

Adalind was generally exhausted when she got home, as was Nick, who found out quickly that being basically the sole caretaker of Kelly was about as exhausting as fighting a Siegbarste or Manticore. Made him wonder and appreciate how she did it for a year. Yes, she hadn't quite been sole caretaker but he realized she had shouldered quite a bit with Kelly's care on her own while he had been working and fighting off an uprising and she had been home with their son.

Even though he had wanted to check out more at the Wall, find out more about the little girl, he had been putting off Meisner for almost a week due to juggling Kelly and work, without adding the demands of the Wall. He had finally run out of excuses when Trubel sought him out and now he was following her through the pit, Kelly working his charm on Rosalee at the spice shop, and Adalind embroiled in whatever legal brief or powwow that had her tied up at the office at eight o'clock on a Friday night.

"So we think we've got an idea where they're going to strike next," Trubel was saying to him, but Nick wasn't really listening. He was looking for the little girl, neck bending to look down every corridor they passed, or every door. He thought again about asking Trubel what she knew—if she had ever seen or heard of Hadrian's Wall grabbing children.

"Have you ever seen what's behind all these doors?" he asked, interrupting her as she explained where their intel had originated from. She glanced at him in surprise, no doubt wondering what he was on, especially since he had been coming here for over a year now and had probably asked the question a long time ago. In fact, now that he thought about it, he had, but then, they had both been relatively new to the Wall, Trubel admittedly less so, and she was far more involved with them now a year later. Perhaps if she hadn't had seen it all then, she had now.

"Most of it is Wesen the wall has captured and reprogrammed, or in process of reprogramming. One wing is the dorms where the Wall personnel live and stay," she said after a moment. "You've seen mine. And Eve's," she added.

Nick felt his lip twist sourly. Yes, he had seen both. Trubel had been clearly proud to have the space; considered it an honor, something hers. He didn't know what Eve thought. Knowing her as Juliette she would have been depressed by how stark and cold it was, but Eve seemed to be fine with it. He wondered if the little girl was on that wing, but surely they would have seen her, living in the same section of the compound, at some point? It didn't seem likely then that she was housed there with them, so she had to be somewhere else.

The works-in-progress-wing, given her age, maybe.

"Do you ever meet or see the Wesen they bring in for reprogramming?"

She looked at him again and Nick flashed a small smile, meant to reassure, or distract her, he wasn't sure.

"I've met a few of the new recruits, yeah, but Wesen who need reprogramming aren't usually viewed upon by the general public so to speak. Most are extremely dangerous and usually only Meisner deals with them until it's clear the training is working."

Meisner. It always came back to Meisner didn't it? He would have to know about the little girl then, if he was the one in charge here, and especially if he was the one training or reprogramming her or whatever he was doing. Which meant Nick was probably wasting his time quizzing Trubel.

"Nick, you heard all this a long time ago. Is something going on?"

"No," Nick said, mostly because he still didn't know if it was wise to get into it with her yet. He might need Trubel's help with the Wall and getting to the girl, and it wouldn't be good to tip his hand too soon and have Trubel removed or sent away on some transcontinental assignment by a suspicious Meisner. And he still needed to determine if it really was such a bad thing they had the girl. He knew nothing about her and their reasons for having her. Though it bothered him that they had someone so young in their organization, it was not to say that their reasons for having her weren't good ones.

"I just, you never see anyone, or anything, or hear anyone or anything. I mean, I've been coming here for a year, and I still wonder what's going on most of the time."

"Well, you don't have to wonder," Trubel said, and Nick nodded. There was an open invitation, an expectation, that he would join with the Wall. Quit his job as a cop for Portland, and wander the globe at the behest of the government. Leave his family behind. Unprotected, though Meisner had promised, as had Trubel, that they would be well taken care of in his absence.

Except, there it was again.

Meisner.

Meisner was already far too hung up on Adalind for Nick to be comfortable with, and no one was going to take care of his son but him, and Nick wasn't about to not be there for either Kelly or Adalind.

He still kept his mom's words to him close. Was not going to push away or give up his family for anyone.

"Nick."

"Meisner," Nick replied coolly. Noticed Eve behind him. "Eve. Well, I see the gang's all here. Whatya got?"

%%%%%%%%

He listened attentively to what Meisner was outlining. Nodded when Eve went over his and her roll in the plan, and privately considered what and how he could investigate more on the girl. Security was so tight he wasn't sure what he could do it without letting someone—Trubel, namely—in on what he was doing. He wasn't going to get anywhere through the compound without access.

"What do you think?" Trubel asked him when the meeting had broken up.

"Seems solid," Nick replied.

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Something's up. What is it?"

Nick looked at Trubel, debating on his answer. "Something's been weighing on my mind."

"Yeah, I can see that. What is it?"

"Maybe we can talk in your room," Nick said, wondering if this might be his opportunity to explore.

"Okay, I still need to do a couple of things here. Give me just a few minutes."

"I can meet you there, right?"

"Someone can take you."

"I'm sure I can find my way," he said, although finding his way wasn't the problem. Having access to the way was. "I mean do I really need an escort at this point?"

%%%%%%%%%

Obviously, yes, The Wall thought so.

He was once again saddled with an escort, and Nick was trying to take his sweet time, using the delay to try to come up with an idea that might somehow lead him back to the girl.

"You know, you just point me in the direction I think I can find my way from here. I'm sure you got more important things to do."

There was no response from yet another Nameless. He supposed he should count himself lucky that he wasn't saddled with Eve as an escort. He dragged his feet, glancing at each door as he passed it, until he came to one that looked down a corridor. He stared down it, but if he was being honest this was all fruitless, anyway.

"You know what, why don't we go this way," he said, pointing at the door and the hall visible beyond it. "I'm tired of going that way."

He tried the door and lost precious seconds of reaction time when it unexpectedly opened. Nameless was almost to him when Nick finally reacted and deftly moved out of his grasp and through the door.

He was almost clipped by the door when it slammed behind him, locking with a satisfying click. Nick and Nameless stared at each other in surprise from opposite sides of the glass before Nick shrugged apologetically.

"Sorry," Nick said, and Nameless narrowed his eyes. Nick watched him put his thumb out of view, where the scanner was located and heard a harsh buzzing sound.

Nameless looked up in surprise and tried again and Nick heard the same buzzing sound.

"I think it's broke," Nick offered, "I'm okay, don't worry." Not that Nameless probably was, but Nick realized he probably only had a few minutes before the Wall figured out what was wrong and found some way to override the system and the lock.

"I'll just look for some other way out," he said and turned and moved down the hall. More doors, the same kind that usually indicated cells, or dorms behind them. He kept moving, listening to activity behind him but he heard the door buzz harshly again, telling him he still had a little time yet. He reached the end and found himself down another corridor. He walked faster, knowing it was getting down to seconds now before someone found him.

He looked around him, trying to think where he had been when he saw her. He heard a voice, then another, and realized they had overridden the controls and were moving towards him. He glanced around again, calculating his options, when a door a few yards ahead of him clicked loudly with a release and popped open a few inches.

He glanced behind him, figured that whoever his pursuers were, Nameless or somebody else, would be around the corner in a few moments and whirled back when he detected a flicker of motion in front of him.

"Hi," said the girl.

"Hello," Nick said in surprise, eyes widening. More sound behind him and he glanced back worriedly, hoping greetings wouldn't be all they had time for between them.

"They're looking for you," the girl said, her eyes glowing with that faint purple he had seen before. He heard pounding and looked behind him again to see a wall, instead of an open corridor. He whirled back to stare at the girl and she smiled.

Oooookay. Definitely a Hexenbiest child, and she smiled wider, as though she could read his thoughts.

Maybe she could, and that wasn't exactly comforting.

"You remember me?" he asked her, glancing behind him again, but the wall remained, the sound of pounding lowering, like someone was adjusting the volume on a stereo. He looked back at the girl, saw the purple eyes glow brightly and then the glow disappeared.

She had blue eyes, he noted. Adalind blue, but then, so did a lot of children. He tried to think of one as an example, but his mind could only bring up a picture of Adalind.

"Nick the Grimm," she replied, looking at him with a smile. He smiled back briefly, looking her over again. She was wearing black tights and a black and teal plaid dress with a sparkly thread running through the fabric. She had been wearing sparkles before, he remembered.

"You like sparkles, huh?" he asked, and she grinned and nodded, pleased he had noticed. She didn't appear to be mistreated, abused, or malnourished, thin but healthy, hair combed, and alert and attentive, but not fearful.

Of course, with those kind of powers, why should she be? He thought, thinking of the wall behind him.

"Do you live here?" he asked, and she nodded. The door down the hallway that had opened, that she must have come from, opened wider, and Nick moved towards it, glancing at the girl, who grinned and followed him, the girl falling in step beside him. He looked through the doorway and saw what must pass as a little girl's room around here.

"This is your room?" he said, but who else could it be? It had once been like all the other dormitories here, he could see. There were a couple of dolls, a purple child's chair and table.

He looked back at her, saw she was watching him expectantly. "It's very pretty," he said, not sure what she was looking for. "Like you," he added, and she smiled again, a bit shyly, and squeezed past him in the doorway to slip into her room.

She was a very pretty child, but Hexenbiests were known for their beauty and physical attractiveness. He kept trying to see Adalind in her, was struck by the blue eyes and of course the blond hair. The smile didn't match up, though. Kelly had Adalind's smile, that cheeky grin of mischief.

"I didn't catch your name last time," Nick said, and she glanced at him, smile dimming.

Did she not know who she was? Was he not supposed to know who she was? Maybe she knew enough about the Wall to understand she wasn't supposed to tell anyone or let anyone know about herself. Her behavior would back that up. Both times it seemed, though, that she had sought him out, and both times she had isolated them and made sure they stayed that way, he recalled, thinking of the doors locking behind him, the wall she had put up in the corridor.

"You remind me of a little girl I knew once," Nick said conversationally, kneeling down to her height. "Her name was Diana," he added, looking at her, trying to gauge a reaction. She looked at him solemnly, and opened a drawer at her desk. She pulled out a pencil case and opened it up, and Nick spied crayons and pencils and other small objects before she selected one and closed it.

She drifted hesitantly towards him and Nick smiled reassuringly, or what he hoped was reassuringly.

"I promise I won't hurt you," he said, and he clasped his hands in front of him, in what he hoped was a sign of good faith and watched her approach. She stopped a foot in front of him and held out her hand. He met her eyes, blue and child-like, and looked down at what she held.

A gold locket.

He stared at it, wondering what she was trying to convey.

"That's very pretty," he said, looking back up at her. She was watching him quietly. "Is that yours?" he asked, glancing down at it again. It looked old, older than her, certainly. Perhaps it had been her mother's? He looked up at her again, and after a moment's hesitation she nodded.

Her mother's then, he thought. He looked back down at it, noting some faint scratches on the gold surface.

"Was this your mommy's?" he asked, and she nodded again after a long moment, a little uncertainly he thought and he wondered if he had brought up some sad memories for her, or if she even remembered her mother. He wondered how many years she had been here, if for the last six or seven years all she had known were the cold, bright walls of this compound and this room.

"My mommy had a locket, too," Nick told her, remembering a gold locket his mother used to wear when he was young. He had given it to her for her birthday one year, when he was ten or eleven, shortly before she had disappeared from his life.

The little girl regarded him with the same solemn expression, and he wondered if they were both kindred spirits in that they were motherless and fatherless children, though Nick had been older than her when he lost his parents.

She held her hand out a little more insistently, and Nick raised his eyebrow in surprise.

"You want me to have it?" he asked, and she nodded, much more assuredly than her previous answers. He swallowed, looking at her and then glancing at the contents of her room, comparing it to his son's, filled with toys and furniture and the very playful essence of Kelly, and this one, sparse but for what was surely a lonely little girl's meager belongings.

He looked back at her and saw her eyes glow with a purplish tint again and his widened when the locket levitated off her hand and towards him. He felt a strange pull on his hand, and he watched as his left one unclasped from his other and held out in front of him, where the locket dropped neatly into his palm.

He stared wide-eyed at the girl, who grinned shyly, and he looked back at the locket he now clutched and said, "Thank you."

He ran his thumb over the textured front surface of the locket as he looked at her once again. She turned her head slightly, and Nick ran his eyes over her profile, before he realized she was listening to something. He stood and turned, too, to the sound, realizing that he could once again hear pounding.

She gasped, her eyes electrified with purple and Nick found himself suddenly back in the corridor he had been in, her door shut and the locket gone from his fingers. A second later the wall she had fabricated was gone and Nick almost jumped in surprise when Eve appeared, striding purposefully towards him.

"Oh, good, you rescued me again," Nick said sardonically, finding his voice and his composure. She gave him a flat stare and Nick managed a brief smirk.

"What are you doing down here?" she asked, eyes penetrating.

"I got turned around," Nick said, giving her an innocent look back, and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Everything looks the same," he said by way of explanation, indicating the doors along the hallway. He carefully avoided staring at the one housing the little girl, and wondered if she could hear everything going on outside of it.

"Would it kill you guys to maybe add some color," he added, turning away from Eve and heading back the way he had come.

"Nick," Eve said, and Nick halted and schooled his features before turning back to her.

She pointed the opposite way he was going, staring hard at him, still trying to get a read on him.

"See what I mean," he said sourly, and followed where she was pointing. He glanced out the corner of his eyes at the girl's door as he passed, Eve falling in step behind him, and he realized with a pang he still didn't know her name.

"Trubel's looking for you," Eve said, and Nick recalled he told her he would speak to her.

"I'm sure she can find me," Nick replied, waving his arm at the ceiling where they were undoubtedly being surveilled. He wondered if someone had seen him with the girl, but Eve's behavior made him think the girl had managed to do something to the monitoring system, maybe the same way she worked the electronic locks and put up a wall with her mind. If they had seen him with her he felt they would be having a different conversation right now. They hadn't been able to see him, or maybe at least him with her, and he thought that was something too. Another piece of information.

The door at the end of the corridor popped and hissed, and the lock slid back, much the same way as the girl had done, and Nick turned his head slowly to Eve who had manipulated it telekinetically.

"Show off," he said, and she met his eyes with that blank look, but over a year of working with her, the Eve personality was starting to bleed through, and he thought he detected a small smirk.

His phone rang, and he reached in his coat pocket for it, saw it was Hank calling.

"Burkhardt," he said when he picked up and Hank's voice filled his ear, telling him they had a suspicious homicide back in Portland.

Suspicious because it was most likely Wesen. "Okay, I can meet you in…an hour?" Nick said, and then added, "The Wall," when Hank asked where he was at. "Rodger that," Nick replied when Hank agreed and smiled apologetically to Eve who was still walking behind him.

"Give my apologies to Trubel, will you. Homicide."

%%%%%%%%

He breathed a sigh of relief once he was rid of Eve, and Trubel, and the whole Hadrian's Wall lot, when he saw his Land Cruiser. The garage door to the compound opened as he approached his vehicle and he fished out his keys from his pocket and stared dumbfounded when he found the girl's locket among them.

He quickly closed his hand over it, not wanting the cameras to see what held him spellbound and got in and started his car. He backed away from the compound and drove off to the crime scene, his thoughts troubled and confusing.

He fingered the locket again as he drove, thinking of the little girl. His thumb moved across the latch on the edge and he pressed the release to see what was inside.

He jerked his head up in alarm when he heard the vehicle run off the shoulder, and overcorrected and almost lost control of the car, narrowly missing a Honda sedan coming the other way, and then a tree as he worked to right it. He stomped on the brakes and felt the SUV slide in the gravel on the shoulder as he pulled it off the road, and a semi behind him angrily blasted its horn.

He breathed loudly for a moment, before looking back down at the open locket.

A picture of a prepubescent Nick stared back.

%%%%%%%%


	6. Chapter 6

_What…the fuck?_

He stared down in shock. That was him. That was definitely him. His picture from sixth grade, the last one taken of him before his mom and dad had been killed, or so he had thought at the time, in a car accident four months later.

He flipped the locket over, looking at it more closely, though it was hard to see in the dark light of the sky, and he flipped an overhead map light on absently and scanned his eyes over it carefully.

This couldn't be the same locket. This couldn't be the same locket. And if it was, _how_ did the girl get it?

His mother. His mother had always worn the locket. His mother must have given it to her.

But that would mean…

Nick undid his seatbelt and shot out of the car, the locket still held tightly in his hand. He paced a few yards down the shoulder, before turning abruptly with realization.

That would mean she _was_ Diana.

He stared wildly at the gold locket thoughts scrambling.

There was no way, _no way_ she could be Diana. No way, he told himself, but his eyes kept returning to the locket and his picture.

She was too old, she was six, at least. Diana…Diana would only be about three.

But if that was the case, then how did you explain this? This locket? The child?

His mind frantically tried to process a reasonable explanation for what his heart was telling him he already knew.

It was Diana. Somehow, it was her.

He looked up unseeing, back towards his vehicle forty feet off in the distance.

 _Oh my God_ , he thought, _it's her._ And ran that on a loop in his head, unable to contemplate anything else.

A horn blasted in the night, scaring him. He was still on the side of the road, the driver side door to his land cruiser open, the dim light of the interior bleeding out into the night.

He had found Diana.

He made his way slowly back to his car and closed the door and re-buckled himself back in.

%%%%%%%

He wandered around the crime scene like a zombie. He nodded in all the right places, looked where Hank was pointing, managed a few mechanical directions to Wu and one of the crime scene techs, but he felt as though he was disembodied, still either on the side of road, working through the revelation that had hit him, or at the Wall with the girl, going over everything he could remember of their latest interaction.

He jumped in surprise when the captain appeared in front of him, and nodded in blind acknowledgment when he saw Renard's lips moving.

"Nick!" and Nick finally broke out of his haze and looked at Renard.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" Renard asked, with some concern, looking Nick over.

"Yeah," he said in a thick voice, "Fine. Why?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

 _I have_. _The ghost of your daughter, except she's real._

"I'm okay," he said, and ignored Renard's furrowed brow and blatant disbelief. Renard turned away from him after a few seconds to look back at the crime scene, his profile visible in the faint light and Nick started in shock.

 _Her_ profile. Her profile was very similar, the nose, the jaw, everything except for the chin, and Nick realized he had been right when he had associated that feature with Adalind.

 _Oh my god_. He saw it now, not the overwhelming or damning similarities to the mother, but to the father, Renard. She looked like Renard, except for the blue eyes and white blond hair.

He stared at Renard, no longer seeing him, but the girl, delicate and regal features, befitting a child borne of royalty, like Renard, bastard child of royalty he was.

"What?" Renard asked, and Nick came back to the present; realized Renard was looking at him again with that worried expression. Nick shook his head and shrugged.

"Just thinking," Nick said.

The locket burned in his pocket. Nick had been unable to lay it down anywhere in the car, lest for some reason it disappeared, that this might be all imagined, but the more he looked at Renard the more he knew he hadn't.

She had sought him out, recognized him probably from the picture in the locket. Maybe even his mother had had some recent picture of him, that she had seen perhaps, but she had only been a year and a half—or four— _how old was she?!_ -when his mother had been killed. He shook his head, confused, not sure how fast or why she was aging so quickly compared to what should be her real age.

The question was, _how_ did she know he was at the Wall both times she had sought him out? Doubtful she was in charge of surveillance, so what tipped her off he was there?

Why had she sought him out? Did she remember him from years ago? She had been a baby for Christ's sake when he met her, briefly held her as they travelled in the limo to hand her off to his mother. She couldn't have known him from anywhere but that locket.

She had been an incredibly powerful Hexenbiest even then though, as a baby. What was the extent of her powers now?

He could now suddenly understand why she might be at the Wall, given her powers she had had in infancy. She and Eve...they were extraordinary, and extraordinarily powered Wesen. He remembered his mother's concern, that a child with Diana's powers needed to be raised in as normal an environment as possible, and the Wall was far from normal.

What was she like then, as a result?

Did she remember her mother? Would she know Adalind as she had Nick, without a picture to go by.

He swallowed, looking down at the ground, considering.

What was he going to tell Adalind?

He looked up, back at Renard, aware again that Renard had been saying his name loudly so that Hank had joined him and both were looking at Nick with concern again. Diana was Renard's daughter, too.

What was he going to tell Renard?

%%%%%%%%

He was at Monroe's and Rosalee's.

Didn't remember how he got there, but when he looked around from the porch in confusion, he saw his truck parked next to the curb, so obviously he had driven there. Why?

Ah, Kelly. He looked down at his son with a distracted smile when Monroe opened his front door, Kelly right there to greet his dad with an excited grin. Adalind's smile and he looked up at Monroe with a pained expression and Monroe's grin faded.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked worriedly, and Nick pushed past him and his son into the house. Nick ran his hand over his face, agitated, his mind still moving in a hundred different directions. The case. The Wall. The girl. His son. Renard. Adalind. Adalind. Adalind. Diana, Diana, Diana.

"Nick?" Monroe said again, and he heard Kelly approach, looked for a long time at his son's outstretched arms blankly as Kelly moved to stand in front of Nick, before he registered what his son wanted.

He picked Kelly up automatically, and realized after a minute he was still too agitated to hold him. He set him down again after a brief kiss on Kelly's head, and Kelly protested loudly and Nick moved away, walking to the fireplace before turning back around.

"Uh, Nick, you're scaring me buddy," Monroe said.

"Hey Nick," he heard Rosalee say somewhere in the background, probably the point in the room that led to the kitchen.

"Nick?" Monroe said sharply and Nick looked at him.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Rosalee said, picking up Kelly.

"I saw Diana," he said, and stared at Monroe, registering the shock on his face that must have reflected his own.

"What?" Rosalee exclaimed.

"Where?" Monroe said tightly, looking at Nick. Knowing the answer.

"At the Wall," Nick said.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

"What?" Rosalee said again. Kelly looked at her curiously.

"Oh my god," Monroe murmured and Nick nodded. "It's her?"

"It's her," Nick said quietly.

"Oh my god," Monroe said again, moving to pace counterpoint to Nick.

"Wait a minute, will someone just please tell me what's going on?" Nick looked at Rosalee, was saved from trying to form words when his phone rang. Adalind's name and picture flashed as the caller and he stared at it with a growing sense of dread, and then swept his thumb over the button to send it to voice mail.

He looked up from the phone, met Monroe's eyes and saw the slight nod of understanding.

"Monroe!"

Monroe looked at his wife, then looked at Nick. Nick stared back and turned to Rosalee.

"What do you mean you saw Diana? _Diana_ , Diana? Adalind's daughter?" Rosalee clarified, and Nick nodded.

" _What?"_ she whispered, glancing at Monroe for confirmation.

"I saw Diana. At the Wall, two weeks ago."

"What?!" Rosalee shouted.

"I didn't know it was her, it was just...this child that reminded me of her."

"They have children?" Rosalee breathed in horror, and she stared at Nick in shock, holding Kelly tighter to her body.

"And then tonight...I saw the same girl again. The same thing," he said to Monroe, "and she gave me this," he pulled the locket out of his pocket, still almost shocked to see it in his hand and not a figment of his imagination. He held it out and Monroe glanced at Rosalee and warily picked it up. He looked it over carefully, like Nick had before looking at Nick anxiously.

"Oh, wow, Nick, you remember when you brought Diana to us and she had a locket like this? Like moved it through the air? Remember that? Is this-"

"Open it," Nick said, suddenly recalling what Monroe was talking about.

Monroe and Rosalee exchanged one more glance before Monroe did as Nick had asked and jerked when he saw the picture.

"Holy cow, Nick, is this you?"

"Yeah," Nick said quietly. Rosalee moved to look over Monroe's shoulder and stared, her mouth dropping open.

"Where-"

"I gave my mother that locket when I was, I don't know, eleven. The picture is my sixth grade school photo, the last one she had of me before she..."

"Oh my god," Rosalee breathed. "Oh my god," she said again.

"I didn't know what was in it until after I left the compound, but my mother was the only one who wore the locket, and Diana was the last person she was with before she was killed."

"Nick," Rosalee said, and she stared at Nick painfully, before staring at the locket in incomprehension. "Oh my god, oh my god. She's here? She's here? At the compound?"

"Yes," Nick said.

"You knew?" she asked Monroe in disbelief.

"We didn't know—I didn't know for sure until tonight, just a couple of hours ago," Nick said, hoping to spare Monroe some grief.

Rosalee's lips pressed together in a thin line. Everyone turned when someone pounded on the front door. Nick's heart beat in his chest loudly, hoping—praying-it wasn't Adalind. Not yet. Not until he got a handle on this. On what he was going to do. What he was going to say to her.

They exchanged glances and Monroe went to answer the door.

"Hank!" Monroe said, and Nick breathed a sigh of relief that did not go unnoticed by Rosalee. Kelly began to fuss, and Rosalee looked at him. He was probably unnerved by the tension in the room, Nick thought, could sense the adults were deeply bothered by something. Nick held out his arms for him, coming back to himself, his responsibility as a father to care for and soothe his son.

"Nick," Hank said, and Nick looked up at his partner's worried face. "You all right?"

Nick shook his head slowly, and Hank furrowed a brow in concern, looking at the tight faces on Monroe and Rosalee.

"What's going on? Is it Adalind? Is she okay?"

Nick, Monroe, and Rosalee exchanged another round of looks. Nick bounced Kelly lightly in his arms, received a small smile for his efforts, and pulled him close in a hug, closing his eyes in silent apology for ignoring him earlier. It was late, past Kelly's normal bedtime, and Nick would probably suffer the repercussions of allowing him to get off schedule for the next two days at least.

"I think-" Monroe began, before Rosalee interrupted him.

"I think everyone needs to sit down and you need to start from the beginning," she told Nick, and he looked up from Kelly and nodded.

%%%%%%%%

"Oh my god," Rosalee said again when Nick had finished.

"It's—it's—" Hank fumbled.

"Incredible," Monroe supplied.

"Heartbreaking," Rosalee said.

"Unbelievable," Nick said, shifting slightly in his chair. Kelly had fallen asleep on his lap fifteen minutes ago.

"That's why you were so distracted at the crime scene. Captain was really worried about you."

"Oh my god, Nick!" Rosalee exclaimed.

"Your captain," Monroe said. "Nick what are you going to do? It's his daughter."

"Who cares about the captain. What am I going to tell Adalind? _Should_ I tell Adalind?"

Monroe and Hank looked at Nick considering, but Rosalee looked up in shock.

"Of course you _should,_ Nick! This is her daughter."

"I know that, but right now, all I can tell her is I've seen her. I have no way of reuniting her with Diana at this point, which is what she wants. Best case scenario, I tell her I saw Diana at the Wall, and she marches down there and confronts Meisner. Meisner denies it and they move the girl, and she's never seen or heard again. Or Meisner confirms it and they move the girl, and she's never seen or heard from again, or even, Meisner confirms it and they don't do anything, and there's nothing Adalind or I can do, because we have no access to anything in the compound."

"Nick's right," Hank said. "Right now we need to figure out what our options are, if it's even possible to get her back, before we can tell anyone anything."

"Right now, there's nothing to tell. It's just my word that I've seen her. They find that out, there goes any access to the Wall."

"This is all assuming that the reason they even have her, is…what? A charitable one?" Monroe said. "Not the reason we all know why Wesen are sometimes recruited to the Wall. Wesen like Eve. Given what we had seen when she was baby, it's not really surprising why they might have Diana."

"You think she's there because of her powers?" Rosalee asked.

"I don't know. I don't know why she's there. She didn't seem to be mistreated or abused, or fearful of anything in her environment, except someone discovering us. That seems to be her main concern. It doesn't change the fact that she is still incredibly powerful. I mean, if you had seen the wall she constructed, or I thought she constructed. I'm pretty sure, too, she's doing something with her powers that mess with the security system, otherwise I don't think I would have moved two inches without someone from the Wall right there with me, watching.

"She may not be doing it on purpose," Monroe said. "Remember when she was a baby?"

Rosalee nodded. "Her powers just might be so potent that they naturally interfere with electromagnetic devices."

Nick paused with his next comment, interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing again. He reached into his coat pocket, and frowned.

"Adalind," he said.

"Nick," Rosalee began.

"What are you going to tell her?" Hank asked.

"Nick, you gotta take it," Monroe pointed out, and Nick gave a slight nod. She was calling about Kelly and his whereabouts, not the Wall and what he had seen. She wasn't even aware he had gone to the Wall this evening.

"Hey," he said when he picked up.

"Nick? Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Nick said, "Got called out to a crime scene earlier," Nick told her.

"Kelly at Rosalee's?"

"Yeah, I'm here, actually, picking him up," Nick told her, looking at the rest of the gang. "I should be home shortly."

"Okay. Did you get my message?" she asked and Nick realized he had never bothered to listen to the voice mail she left.

"No, I—I haven't had time. I had seen where you called, just hadn't had the chance to do anything yet." He met Hank's eyes. "I'll see you in a bit," Nick said, and disconnected when he heard her reply.

"I can't tell her anything just yet. Hank's right. We've got to find out what our options are. I need to know if I can get back in there and if I can, can I get her out."

"And then what?" Monroe asked.

Yes, and then what? They all just live happily ever after? He had no idea how Diana would assimilate back into society; into their family. The loft wasn't technically big enough for one child, but they had made it work. Plus, despite his dismissal of Renard, he was a factor in all this, too. Diana was Adalind's and Renard's child, and Nick suspected he was about to step in the middle of a domestic situation he wasn't sure he wanted to be a part of.

"Trubel," Hank said, and Nick nodded, gathering Kelly and standing up.

"Probably our best bet."

"You tell her?" Hank asked, and Nick shook his head.

"I was going to, but then the girl showed up and you called with the homicide, so I never got to tell her anything."

"Do you think she knows?" Rosalee asked.

Nick shook his head. "I don't think so, but honestly, I don't know. She's seen a lot more of the Wall and what they do than I have."

"Do you think they have other children?" Rosalee ventured, wrapping her arms around herself. Her eyes fell on Kelly's back, his cheek smashed against Nick's shoulder where he was lost to the world in a deep sleep.

"I don't know," Nick said quietly. "I hope not."

"Scary to think about," Hank said, and Monroe nodded.

"It's just wrong. We need to take care of this," Monroe added.

"I know. Right now I need to take Kelly home and pretend like I didn't just see Adalind's child a few hours ago and did nothing about it."

"Good luck," Monroe said.

"Call me—anything," Rosalee told him, and Nick nodded again.

%%%%%%%%

Over the years, especially when he first found out about his lineage and that he was a Grimm, Nick got more comfortable and adept at lying to people. Of course it was easier when it was no one he knew, but he was pretty skilled at convincing them even when it was.

Still, he was on edge and guarded underneath an exhausted exterior when he arrived at the loft. He still wasn't sure what the best course of action was regarding Diana. Wasn't entirely convinced lying about it to Adalind was the right thing either, but in lieu of other options it was the one he felt worked for the situation.

She was eating from a bowl of leftovers next to the fridge when he arrived with Kelly, still out like a light, and Nick hoped he could put him to bed and then make an excuse himself in an effort to avoid any more lies to her than necessary.

"Hey," She said with a smile, and he gave her a brief smile in reply. "Bad night?" she asked, looking at him.

That was the problem, though. She had learned how to read him a long time ago.

"You could say that," he said, a tad drily.

"You want to talk about it?" she asked.

"No," he replied. The least said the better. "I'm going to put Kelly down. Then I'm going to take a shower, and then I'm going to go to bed. I'm beat," he offered by way of explanation. "You need to use the bathroom," he asked as he headed to Kelly's room.

"No, I already took a bath," she said, and he nodded and disappeared into Kelly's bedroom and laid his son gently in his crib. Soon he would be too big for it, he thought, looking at his son. He covered him lightly with a blanket and looked around again at his son's room, thinking of Diana's and the few things she had in hers.

"You okay?" Adalind's voice broke in, and he realized she had followed him. He looked up into her eyes, warm and soft, looking him over carefully, and he nodded.

"Tired. It's been a long day," he said, moving away from Kelly and trying to escape her, but she moved from the door jamb, blocking his exit, a delicate hand touching his face.

"You sure you don't want to talk about it?" she asked again, cerulean blue eyes looking up into his. He shook his head. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him and Nick blocked the memory of her daughter from his mind and focused on kissing her back, making her believe everything in her world was okay, and not about to be blown apart.

He broke away and placed a kiss on her forehead and succeeded in stepping around her. He grabbed his clothes from the bureau, Adalind watching him carefully. He paused on his way out of their bedroom to kiss her once more.

"You don't need to wait up," he said. "I should be to bed shortly. You look tired, too," he observed. She looked concerned, also, trying to make sense of his behavior. "It's late. We can talk in the morning," he added, and she nodded after a moment.

He spent twenty minutes in the shower, going over everything again in his head, his conversation with Diana, Monroe, Hank and Rosalee, and the one he would have to have with Adalind when he told her. When he emerged from the bathroom the loft was dark, no light visible from their bedroom except what little streamed through the windows high above the room.

He crept in and quietly took his spot on the left side of the bed, Adalind curled on her side towards him, eyes shut in what he hoped was deep sleep. He relaxed into his pillow after a few minutes, until he heard her shift and a moment later she wrapped her arm around him, snuggling against his side.

He lay awake for a long time after that.

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Reviews are my lifeblood. Please take a moment to comment.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Squeeeeeeeeeeee! (re: 'Key Move')

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The key to making lying to loved ones easy was avoiding them. He was up and gone by six, Adalind sleeping soundly, unaware he had moved away from her. Years ago he would have escaped to the trailer, probably grabbed a few more z's on the bed there, but the trailer was long gone, beyond saving, and instead he used the key Rosalee had given him to the spice shop and let himself in and down the basement.

It was functional, what remained of his family's history laid out on the tables, assortment of weapons stowed away, but he missed the privacy and seclusion of the trailer. In the trailer he could be alone as long as he needed. Here, he had probably two to three hours before Rosalee or Monroe came in, and after that he would have to relocate to somewhere else, or deal with the intrusion, and it was Rosalee's shop, so really he was intruding on her, not that she ever made him feel that way.

He laid on the single bed downstairs too wired to sleep, his mind ruminating on Diana and Adalind and what he was going to do about either of them.

He was going to have to tell Adalind about her daughter, he knew, but he needed to have more information about what he was dealing with and why she was there before he approached her with it.

That meant another trip to the Wall.

And Trubel.

He was going to need her help if he was going to get anywhere there.

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 _"What?"_

Trubel stared at him incredulously, looking at Monroe and Rosalee, who had joined him when Trubel arrived at the spice shop.

"Adalind's kid is at the Wall? You're certain you've seen her."

"I spoke with her twice now, and yes, I'm positive."

"Oh my god, Nick. This is Diana—the baby that the royals and the resistance were all wanting. I thought the royals had her? Isn't that why they killed your mom?"

"I thought so too. Apparently I was wrong about that as well."

"Did anyone get on that helicopter," Trubel asked.

Nick shrugged. At this point he didn't know anything, anymore. If she didn't, that meant she had been living at the compound for over two years, and if she didn't, and the resistance had somehow gotten hold of her in the meantime, he wasn't sure how long she had been there. A year, maybe. Maybe more, maybe less, but she wasn't a recent addition, judging by the personal affects she had in her room.

"How's Adalind taking it?" Trubel asked anxiously.

"I haven't told her yet. I just found out last night that it was definitely Diana. She's older than she should be."

"How do you mean?"

"She's six or seven at least. She's only technically about a year older than Kelly."

"She's a hexenbiest?"

"Yeah, and she's got some extraordinary powers," Rosalee said.

"Maybe that's why the wall has her," Trubel ventured.

"We were wondering."

"Do you know—are there more children at the Wall?" Rosalee asked Trubel, glancing at Nick.

"I've never seen any. I don't know why they would have them, unless there were extraordinary circumstances, but I've just never seen it. They're not interested in children to fight an uprising."

"So, in theory, it's just Diana," Monroe said.

"In theory," Nick said. "It would make sense their interest in her. She's a royal—getting to her would mean control of that for future generations. If they can shape and mold her that could help keep Wesen under control."

"What are you wanting to do?" Trubel asked.

"I need access to the Wall. I need to see her and talk to her again, find out what I can about why she's there."

"Okay. You want me to talk to Meisner?"

"No," Nick said, and Rosalee frowned. "You said he's the one that typically deals with Wesen recruits and reprogramming."

"You're thinking he already knows about her," Trubel said.

"Yeah, and if we tip our hand too soon I'm not sure what he'll do. If he'll move her or deny us access to the Wall, or what, so we need to be careful that we don't tip them off before we make our move."

"Which is?"

"Get Diana back," Nick said.

"What if she's at the Wall for a reason," Monroe ventured.

"I know, but if Adalind ever found out I found her daughter and didn't do anything she would never forgive me."

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"Hey, where have you been?"

Nick dropped his keys on the table and grabbed a water from the fridge.

"I had some things to do," Nick said.

"At six o'clock in the morning?" Adalind asked. "I woke up before seven and you were already gone."

"Thinking about the case, didn't want to wake you," Nick replied, leaning against the counter to look at her. She was at the dining table, her weekend desk, with contracts and other documents spread out. She looked frazzled, and Kelly had the room in disarray around her, toys everywhere and was busily destroying a creation he made out of blocks with a toy truck. He had looked up when Nick arrived, but apparently the demolition required his full attention.

"Mama," Kelly said, getting up to solicit her attention and Nick suddenly understood why her nerves were on edge. Kelly chattered to her in his now somewhat intelligible baby speak, trying to convince his mother to get down on the floor to play with him. Adalind gently ran her fingers over his head.

"Kell-bell, mommy has just a little work to do and then she can play," and Kelly cried foul on that claim, and Nick had to agree looking at the amount of papers she had spread out. He held out his arms insistently and Adalind picked him up onto her lap, and Nick watched Kelly fling nearly all the papers within reach off the table or further away.

He heard Adalind sigh, and Nick moved away from the counter to help her.

"Kelly," she said, and grabbed for a highlighter he had gotten a hold of. She wrangled it out of his grasp, and Nick saw the wrinkle of his son's brow, heralding phase one of tantrum initiation, and knew they didn't have much time before phase two, and once that began, phase three—full-blown tantrum-was inevitable. Denied the highlighter Kelly snatched the next thing in his grasp, which was Adalind's expensive ink pen, and she grabbed that, too, and that was phase two activated. Nick grabbed Kelly, which only served to piss his son off more, and he began to scream and wail.

Adalind sighed again and threw the pen and highlighter down, and covered her eyes with a hand.

"I can't do this," she muttered.

"Here I can help you get it all back organized again," Nick offered.

"No," she griped, "not this. _This,"_ she replied indicating Kelly and the table, and the whole loft. "This was a bad idea."

Nick looked at the table in confusion. "I can take him out somewhere for a little while," he offered, thinking that he did actually need to get some work done on the homicide he and Hank had landed, not to mention the whole Diana thing.

"Not that," she said irritably. "Taking on this new client. It was a bad idea," she said. "I'm working seventy hours a week and I feel like I'm getting nowhere and failing everybody."

"You're doing fine," Nick said, feeling a little out of his depth. "We're doing fine," he added. "Don't worry about Kelly, he'll be okay."

She moved her hand away from her face and gave him a look.

"Really? Nick, he's already showing some behavioral changes since I started this whole project," she said and Nick looked at Kelly still blasting Nick's ear off with his bawling.

"He just needs a nap," Nick said, and privately thought they could probably all benefit from that. "He was up late because of the case I was on."

"Exactly," Adalind said, and Nick frowned. "I mean you're still called out to crime scenes and working at all hours of the day, and I'm gone all the time, he's being pushed off onto Rosalee or daycare, and it's too hard on him."

"I can ask the captain to lighten my workload for a little while," Nick said, a tad defensively.

"Can you?" she asked, and Nick narrowed his eyes at her tone. "Is that something you really think will happen knowing you?"

"Knowing me?" Nick echoed coolly.

"Nick! How many Grimm cops are there? How many Grimms in Portland are there? I mean there's Trubel but she's off all over the globe every week. It seems like every case you handle is Wesen so that means you're the only one who can work it, and it's just not you to back off, or lighten your load," she quoted, "so realistically, is that something that can really happen?"

"Wow," he said, trying to keep a rein on his temper. "Look, I think you're overreacting a little. It's just an adjustment, but we're managing it," Nick replied.

"Great, and what happens when the Wall calls? Then how are you managing it when I'm tied up at the office until nine or ten every night and Meisner or Trubel needs you?"

"Rosalee or Monroe—"

"Rosalee and Monroe are helping you half the time. Nick, Kelly needs stability. He needs—"

"He's doing fine, and anyway last night was a one off. I've been home every night by six with him for the last two weeks. He's just cranky because he misses his mother sometimes," Nick said, and then sobered at her pained expression. "I didn't mean it like that," he insisted.

"Look," he said with a sigh. "I know work has been more than you expected, but that doesn't mean we're all falling apart because of it, or you."

"He's still a baby, Nick, he doesn't understand that I can't be with him because I have a million other things to do. He just sees that his mother doesn't want him," she said, looking at their son with a pained expression. "I don't want him to think he's not important to me."

A tear rolled down Adalind's cheek and Nick felt his chest constrict at the sight.

"Adalind," he said, reaching a hand out to brush the tear away but she turned away, and covered her eyes, and shook her head.

"I don't feel like I even have time to play with my son," she half-sobbed a moment later, and Nick shifted Kelly in his arms. "All he wants to do is play and all I think is _I've got to get this brief or this contract done by noon so I can send it to Daniel so he can file it with the court_. I'm so distracted. I feel like I'm pulled in a hundred different directions at once and I know there's something up with you," she said, and Nick stared at her in surprise.

"What?"

"You. There's something you're not telling me. Is there something I should be worried about and you just don't want to bother me with it?"

"Why would you say that?" he asked.

"You're being all weird, like you're trying to avoid me," she said, looking at him.

"What?"

"This morning, for example."

"I told you, I just had some things to do this morning and I didn't want to wake you."

"Yeah, where'd you go?"

"To the spice shop, to research a case," he said.

"Uh-huh. So why can't you just tell me that. And what about last night?"

"What about it?"

"What's your excuse there?"

He thought back to the night before, wondered what she was referring to specifically. "Like I said, I was just tired," he said, and she shook her head.

"So what's your excuse for last week? And the week before that?"

"Nothing, I've just been busy with work and Kelly, okay," he said testily, not liking being on the receiving end of an interrogation.

"So you're telling me there's nothing you're keeping from me?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Nick opened his mouth, aware that if he denied it now he was setting himself up for a lambasting later. It was one thing to lie by omission, it was another to do it directly to her face.

"Look," he said, and she tilted her head to the side, narrowing her eyes at him. "I'm doing the best I can here. I know it's not perfect, but you really don't have to worry about Kelly. He's doing fine. Felicia says he's still doing well. Still the brightest child in her group. Rosalee says he still charms the pants off of her and Monroe and us guys are doing okay with the day to day of it, feeding, eating, bathing, sleeping."

"You didn't answer my question," she said. "Are you keeping something from me? Something I should know about?"

Nick sighed and looked away, closing his eyes for a millisecond, a flicker of indecision as to whether to confess now or maintain the lie, and the flicker was all she needed.

"I thought so," she said grimly and looked away from him. "Is it about Kelly?" she asked after a moment, looking at their son.

"No, I promise you Kelly is fine," he said, sighing again.

"So, it's about me," she said, and looked at him challengingly. "So what is it?"

"Adalind," he said with another inhalation of breath and set Kelly down on the floor.

"No, Nick," she said a bit forcefully, "what is it? I have a right to know. So what are you keeping from me?"

He looked away from her, started to move away, put some distance between them, but she grabbed his arm and held him.

"Nick," she said warningly.

"I don't think—"

"No. No! You always try to do this. Keep stuff from me to "protect me" when it's usually better that I know what's going on. You promised me before that you would always tell me. What is it?"

Nick looked down, debated on still trying the lie, whether he could make her believe it, and then looked in her eyes and wondered if they could survive it when she found out.

"Diana," he said with a sigh, and her face—her beautiful face—scrunched up in confusion.

"What?" she asked, taken aback by his answer. She looked at him carefully.

"Diana."

"What about her?"

"I found her."

It was deathly quiet in the loft after that. Even Kelly subdued, whether having cried himself out or sensing a change in atmosphere.

"What do you mean, ' _you found her_ '" she repeated slowly.

"What I said. I found Diana."

"Where?"

He paused. "At the Wall," Nick finally said. She stared at him incomprehensibly.

"What?" she said in a quiet, sharp tone.

"I was waiting around at the Wall, and I started exploring around and as I was wandering, this—this little girl appeared," he said, and paused again when he saw the look in Adalind's eyes. "She was blond, like you, and that just reminded me so much of you I thought of Diana, but she disappeared before I found out anything about her. I never knew her name."

"When was this?"

"A couple of weeks ago."

"You've—you've known about her for two weeks and you didn't say anything?" Adalind said, lip trembling slightly.

"No, no. Adalind, it's not like that. I didn't know for sure it was her. I thought I was imagining things. I mean the only similarity I could see was the hair. I thought I was just seeing what I wanted to see. She was too old to be Diana. I mean, Diana's only like a year older than Kelly. That would make her three, right? She's like six or seven at least."

"Technically, yes," Adalind said. Nick paused again and stared at her.

"Technically? What does that mean?"

"She's always sort of aged faster than normal. I mean when I was pregnant with her I was only six months when I went into labor, and she was full-term."

"Is that normal for Hexenbiests?"

"No, I think it was more a result of the ritual to regain my powers," Adalind said, looking away. "I think it's part of the reason why she was so powerful."

"She still is," Nick said, and Adalind looked up at him. "You won't believe what she did this last time."

"Last time? How many times have you seen her?" Adalind asked in an unsteady voice. He met her eyes.

"Just twice. Once, two weeks ago, and again last night."

"Last night?" She said. "You mean your supposed case that you told me about. Or didn't tell me about," she added, her voice getting louder. "That you lied to me about."

"I didn't lie to you about it. I really did get called out on a case, it was just after I was called out to the Wall again."

"I see. So you saw her. Again."

"Yeah, I think she sought me out, too. Both times it's like she sought me out. I was looking for her this time, and she found me. Erected like this wall in the corridor, or this illusion of a wall, so no one else could see or get to us. She still wouldn't tell me her name, but I talked with her for a while and she showed me something," Nick told her, moving around Adalind to the bathroom where he had hidden the locket in his shaving kit. Adalind slowly followed, almost reached the bathroom doorway when Nick reappeared from it, locket clutched in his hand.

"This," he said, dangling the locket from a finger, and felt a ripple of surprise at Adalind's expression when she looked at it. Recognition flashed along her features.

"Oh my god," Adalind whispered, and Nick looked at her closely.

"You—you recognize this?" he asked in shock. Adalind nodded slowly, reaching out to finger the locket.

"It's the locket your mother gave her when she was just a baby. She used the locket like a pendulum when she was rocking Diana to sleep, and Diana liked it so much…your mom gave it to her, right before she took me to you…and Juliette…for help. Diana loved playing with it."

"Yeah, and then when we took you to Monroes—" Nick said.

"Oh, my god. I remember that. She took it…telekinetically."

"Yeah, well, I had forgotten that part. Eve came looking for me, broke through whatever spell or magic Diana was using to keep us shielded, and Diana barely had time to hide before they found us-me. I didn't even realize I had the locket and what was in it until I had left the compound. I found it in my pocket when I fished out the keys to my truck and when I opened it in the vehicle later, I saw this." He pulled the locket towards him and opened it before holding his hand out Adalind.

"Oh my god. That's you, isn't it. Oh my god…oh my god…I never knew what was inside."

"Yeah."

"Oh my god, oh my god, Nick. It's really her. It's really her," Adalind wrapped her arms around her stomach and bit her lip. It was trembling uncontrollably, and she looked up at Nick with eyes full of tears, hope, and disbelief.

"Yeah, I think so. I didn't realize it was her until it was too late, and I was already gone."

"Nick, we need to go get her. What is she even doing there?"

"I don't know, but it's not as simple as all that."

"What are you talking about. She's my daughter, she belongs with me, I want her back!"

"Adalind," he started.

"Don't _Adalind_ me, Nick. We're getting her back," she snapped.

"Adalind, I can't just waltz in there and take her back."

"Why not?"

"First off, I have no access whatsoever to anything at the wall. I don't work for them, I help them on occasion and I've been pretty clear with my hesitation on joining them. I don't know what they'll do if I were to just walk in there and demand they give her back. My gut feeling is they'll move her somewhere before I ever even get to her and I have about fifteen fingerprint scanners between me and her."

"So get Trubel!" Adalind said desperately. "Make her help you."

"I am. She is, but we can't just storm the castle, so to speak without knowing more. Hey—Hey," he said when she choked on a sob, "that doesn't mean I'm going to leave her there, Adalind. We'll get her out, it's just going to take a little time."

Adalind shook her head and stifled another sob, hot tears trailing down her cheeks. Nick pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her.

"I promise, I'm not going to let her get away from us this time, okay," Nick said, and Adalind nodded after a moment.

He realized he hadn't heard from Kelly, and looked down to see his son slumped over his side on the floor, asleep.

Adalind squeezed her arms around him tightly, and Nick placed a kiss against her hair.

"I wasn't sure if I'd ever get to see her again," Adalind mumbled against his shoulder. "I thought the royals had her. How did she get to be at the Wall?"

"I don't know. I don't know how or why she's there."

"Is she okay?" Adalind asked in alarm, pulling away from Nick.

"I think so," Nick said with a nod.

"You think so?"

"She didn't appear to abused, or mistreated or malnourished. She looked like she was well taken care of in that respect," Nick said. Adalind wrapped her arms around him again.

"I want her back, Nick," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"I know," he murmured. He was quiet another moment, debating on saying what was on his mind.

Meisner.

"Nick! We can talk to Meisner," Adalind said excitedly. "I bet Meisner knows a way to get Diana out. He could help us."

Nick swallowed, her thoughts eerily on a similar wavelength to his, although he had a different perspective on the subject than he did. She pulled away from Nick and ran to the night stand by their bed where Nick kept the phone he had received from the Wall. Nick moved to the foot of the stairs and watched as she pulled it out and looked at it. Like everything else at the wall, it required Nick's fingerprint, except unlike everything else, this was the only thing that his fingerprint would operate that had been issued by H.W.

"Call him," she said. "If he knows they have Diana he'll help us, I'm sure."

Nick hesitantly reached for the phone.

"Adalind," he said quietly, "maybe Meisner already knows Diana's there."

She looked at him quickly, her brows furrowing in stubborn disbelief, shaking her head.

"He wouldn't do that," she said, and Nick shook his.

"He oversees the training and reprogramming of all Wesen that come to the compound." She shook her head more insistently. "It's likely he's aware or is involved in her being there."

"No, he wouldn't do that," she said again, but she didn't look as convinced. "You don't know him like I do."

After a year or so, Nick felt he knew him fairly well. Adalind had not dealt with Meisner in any significant way since Diana was born, and a lot had changed since then. It was very possible Meisner had changed significantly since then, or maybe Adalind wasn't looking at Meisner for what he was. A hired gun sent to protect and move her and her baby through the forests of Austria to a rendezvous point where some other hired gun would take over.

"We don't know who's involved or why. We need to be careful who we bring on board with this or we could lose the opportunity to get her back."

"You're wrong about Meisner. Why would he take a little girl? He'll help, Nick, I just need to speak with him."

Nick shook his head. "I need to figure out what our options are first, before we do anything. Trubel's looking into some things for me at the compound. Right now we have to be discreet until we know more about why she's there. That means pretending like you're not aware of anything I just told you."

He cupped her face with both hands, tilting her chin up to look at him.

"I mean it. You just need to give me a little time so we can see what we're dealing with, so no contacting Meisner until we're sure. Okay?"

He leaned forward to press his lips against hers and she moved away.

He sighed quietly and watched her go.

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As always love any feedback and perspectives you may have. Please take a moment to comment!


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Random things I wonder about-why does Renard wear a wedding ring? Part of his cover as a normal human being/police captain. Was he actually married? Is there still a wife, or maybe ex-wife, somewhere? Inquiring minds want to know.

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"Hey Adalind," Nick heard Wu say and looked up from his desk and the file he was reading in surprise. Sure enough, he caught a glimpse of Adalind's blond hair, a whiff of her spicy perfume as she blew past both Hank and Nick, clearly on a mission as she didn't spare Nick a glance, and went straight to Renard's office and let herself in. Nick stared after her in confusion. It was barely nine a.m. She had just left him and Kelly for work at the loft two hours ago. What would she-

 _Oh shit._ Nick leapt up from his desk and hurried after her, Hank now staring after him in confusion.

"Everything all right?" he heard Hank ask.

"Adalind," he said when he burst in and Adalind turned to him in annoyance and then looked back at Renard, who had a baffled and perturbed expression on his face at being interrupted.

Nick wasn't ready to bring up the subject of Diana with Renard. Talking about it with Adalind had proven he wasn't prepared to answer the kind of questions Renard would have. He needed more information and a better plan of action than that before he brought Renard into it.

"Nick," she retorted hotly, "don't try to talk me out of it."

"You want to tell me why _both_ of you are barging in my office?" Renard asked in annoyance, as though he was somewhat repeating the question. Nick gathered he had interrupted Adalind before she got around to explaining why she was here.

"Adalind," Nick said in warning, shaking his head. "Wait. This is not a good idea."

"What's going on?" Renard interrupted loudly, looking from his detective to Adalind, and Nick flicked his gaze to the captain before returning it to his girlfriend.

Adalind looked at him for a long moment, her blue eyes searching his. She had been agitated for a long time after Nick had told her about Diana. Kept returning to the topic with more questions, or concerns about her welfare, or wanting more details from Nick about what he saw there; what he saw with her. She had kept it up until sometime late Sunday afternoon, early evening, when Nick had thought she had finally exhausted herself on the subject. Now he realized it was the calm before the storm. She had come to a decision about what she planned to do, and Nick was hurt and annoyed that she hadn't trusted him to take care of it; follow through on his promise to her, or that she hadn't shared with him what that decision was.

"Someone want to tell me what the hell is going on? Or if this is some lover's spat between the two of you take it the hell out of my office and out of my station," Renard said, looking from Nick to Adalind to Nick again. Adalind pulled her eyes away from Nick and looked at Renard and Nick sighed in resignation.

"Diana's here," she told Renard, and Renard snapped his head back to Adalind.

"What?"

Renard looked at Nick again, who was twisting his lips and debating on how much he wanted to contribute to this conversation. Perhaps he would have been wiser to let Renard and Adalind discuss it alone first.

"Nick found her," Adalind said, looking at Nick as well.

Well great, throw him to the lions then.

"What? Where?" Renard exclaimed.

"Hadrian's Wall," Adalind said, and Renard moved around the desk to stand in front of her and Nick.

"The Wall has her? How?" Both he and Adalind looked at Nick.

Nick shrugged. "I don't know."

"But you've seen her? Diana?" Renard insisted.

"Yeah. Twice."

"You're sure?" Renard said.

"Positive, she looks just like you, except with Adalind's hair and chin," Nick said, and Renard looked taken aback.

"When was this?"

"Friday night. The first time a couple of weeks before that."

"Friday night. That's why you were so distracted at the crime scene?" Renard asked him, and Adalind looked at Nick more closely.

"Yeah," Nick said. "It was a little disturbing," Nick added, thinking of how much she had resembled Renard. Renard crossed his arms over his chest and looked down.

"The resistance has our daughter, Sean, and I want her back," Adalind told him, and Nick suddenly felt out of place in this conversation, rudely reminded he did not have a sole stake in Adalind's life as the father of her child. Children. That he had almost no say in this conversation at all, except for the fact that once they rescued Diana, he would wind up de facto father to the child as Diana would undoubtedly live most, if not all, the time with Adalind, and Adalind lived with Nick.

Nick didn't bother asking if anybody cared what he thought about the situation he was being thrust into. If left with the choice of Nick or her children, she would choose her children, and Nick wasn't ready to let it get that far and lose her anyway.

 _Where would they even put Diana?_ Nick thought. They would have to move, give up the loft and buy a house somewhere. He hadn't ever expected to live at the loft indefinitely, but he had grown comfortable there, had appreciated Adalind's enhancements more than he could say. Had a lot of memories, good ones, of their life together there, not that he couldn't forge some new ones elsewhere, but he realized he felt protected there, from all of life's-his, especially-hardships and turmoil. They had an almost normal life there, just a couple raising their child together.

And Nick...Nick would have to learn how to parent a Wesen child much sooner than he had ever expected to. He had Wesen friends; had a high possibility that his own son would be Wesen, but there it was. Staring him in the face, dressed in sparkles, no doubt.

Where Renard was only involved in their lives peripherally, he would now be tied much closer to them, assuming he took up the responsibilities of fatherhood, and Nick didn't think he wouldn't. Everything that involved Nick and Adalind and Diana would involve Renard by default. Nick didn't know how he felt about the intrusion. Wondered if Renard felt the same about him. He hadn't ever expected Nick to become involved with the mother of his daughter. Given their history, why would he?

It would be an adjustment. A big one. He would just have to learn how to deal with it. He had learned to deal with more difficult things. Had come to love them, in fact. He looked at Adalind staring imploringly at Renard.

Renard looked away from Adalind's beseeching eyes to Nick, stared at him quietly for a long moment.

"Is she okay?" Renard asked him, referring to Diana, and Nick nodded.

"Is she okay?" Adalind asked. "How can she be okay? She's all alone in this world without her parents. She should be with the people who love her!"

"She didn't appear to be in any danger," Nick said, and Adalind looked at him like he was missing the point. Renard looked relieved.

"Don't you want to know how she even wound up in that place!"

Renard looked at Adalind considering, then at Nick for an answer. Nick shrugged. "I don't know. The last time I saw her she was on a helicopter with the royals. I don't know how she ended up here."

"Helicopter?" Renard said, his eyes sharpening. "You saw her get on a helicopter?"

"Yeah, Eve—she was still Juliette then—helped Kenneth hand her off to the royals. Apparently the king—"

"The king is dead," Renard said flatly. "Apparently he fell _out_ of a helicopter."

Nick and Adalind stared at Renard in shock. Nick wondered if maybe that was why Diana was at the wall. Did she have something to do with that? Used her powers? Was it even possible, what he was contemplating, at her age. Thought maybe it was given what he had seen of them.

"And now she's at the Wall? Which is run by Meisner?" Renard said.

"Yeah," Nick confirmed, watching Renard carefully. "Appears to be."

"Meisner can help us, Sean, you have to tell Nick. He doesn't trust Meisner, but he helped deliver Diana and he helped keep us safe and get to Nick's mom," Adalind said, looking from Nick to Sean, but neither man was looking at her.

"I think I know how Diana came to be there," Renard said, and Nick raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What?" Adalind said. "How?"

Renard looked at Adalind, glanced at Nick.

"Meisner."

%%%%%%%%

"What?" Adalind gasped, looking stricken.

Nick uncrossed his arms and stood straighter.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because a year ago, he sat in this office and told me my father was dead. Fell out of a helicopter. That apparently he and the King, and now, according to you, Diana were in."

"He wouldn't do that," Adalind said, shaking her head, and Nick glanced at her. "He wouldn't take my daughter and keep her from me."

"That would make Meisner the last one to know what happened to Diana."

"And since you saw her among the resistance, then I think it's safe to say what happened to Diana. Likely, Meisner probably didn't know where you were," Renard said to Adalind, and she raised her eyes to his. "Or who you were with," Renard added, meeting Nick's eyes.

No, likely no one who knew their history would have expected Adalind and Nick to be together. To have had a child. Meisner had no idea about Adalind's history with Nick, unless Eve told him, which was possible, but he wouldn't have known it then, when Nick had been after the royals and Eve.

Problem was, he definitely knew Adalind was with Nick now, so Nick was curious as to his reasoning for keeping the fact he had Adalind's daughter from her. Knowing Meisner, he felt he was doing the right thing because Adalind wasn't ready or some other crap similar to the stuff he had fed Nick when Nick found out about Eve/Juliette.

"Well, he's aware now that Adalind's with me," Nick told him, and Renard nodded, looking concerned.

"He wouldn't keep my baby from me," Adalind insisted, and Nick looked at her, wanting to offer her comfort, but he had been suspicious of Meisner for too long for her to believe anything he said anyway.

"Maybe he hasn't had her for that long," Renard ventured, looking at Nick. Nick shrugged.

"Anything's possible," Nick said.

"But you don't think probable," Renard said.

"I think…I think she's been with the resistance the whole time and yeah, Meisner's known about it. Whether she's been at the wall the whole time…that…that I don't know. I feel like maybe I would have seen her sooner, but honestly, I don't know. They had Eve in isolation for months before they ever allowed her out and about, so I don't know how long they've had her, but that's my gut feeling."

"Trubel aware of her?"

"She is now. She wasn't before, which is another reason why I think maybe she might only be a somewhat recent addition to the Wall."

"Are there more children there?"

"Not that I've seen, or that Trubel's seen. I never had the impression the Wall was interested in them, but you have to admit, Diana's a special case."

"I don't care, she's _my_ daughter," Adalind interrupted. "Sean, we need to get her out now. She belongs with us," Adalind implored, and Renard looked between her and Nick questioningly. Nick wondered if Adalind had considered what she was asking—that Nick would be thrust into caring and parenting Diana as well. In a way it would be another child he had had no control or say over in its being; it was just here now and she expected him to do the right thing and accept responsibility for it, like she had with Kelly. It burned a little, he had to admit. It burned a little, too, that that was exactly what he would do. Still he wondered if she ever considered the sacrifice he was making for them. For her.

He would do most anything for Adalind. Steal her daughter back, take her and raise her as his own if he needed to, but he was worried about Kelly. Did Adalind think that once their daughter was back with them that they would just be one big happy family? There would be major adjustments for everybody involved. They already had one child they were barely keeping up with; how would it be with two?

They hadn't discussed having more children, but Nick felt it was sort of a given now, that one day they would. It wasn't even all the sex, which granted they probably should have been pregnant again before now, had it not been for the very careful, dutifully observant birth control measures Adalind had undertaken. He found he wanted more children one day; loved Kelly immensely. Remembered how lonely it had been growing up with no siblings; that Adalind had grown up the same, and he didn't want that for his son, but he had thought it might be impossible. He was a Grimm, after all. Some days, it didn't seem smart to have had Kelly, though he would never regret his son's life.

But if they had become pregnant again, this time it would be when they were both ready. When Nick would have nine months to come to terms with it-enjoy it-this time. To figure out answers to the myriad of questions bringing another child into their lives would create. Buy a home, make Adalind his wife.

But what Adalind was proposing with Diana he would be lucky if he had nine days to come to terms with it.

"As far as getting her out, Nick's probably your best bet. You've got access to the wall."

"That's just it, I don't."

"What do you mean? I thought you worked for them."

"No, I work with them. We coordinate efforts sometimes, and mostly they just use me to back up Eve, but I don't work for them and have no access to anything within the compound. Every time I've been there I've had an escort assigned to take me around, and honestly there's probably fewer security measures at the Pentagon than there is there."

"Does Trubel have access?"

"Some," Nick admitted, "though once we get to her, assuming we can get to her, isn't going to be the problem, it will be getting Diana back out safely. And then what? Is it just a waiting game until someone tries to steal her back?"

"No one's going to steal her back. Over my dead body," Adalind said fiercely and Nick looked at her carefully.

"It may come to that," Nick said, and she met his eyes and swallowed thickly after a moment. "Getting her out is going to be harder than getting in and getting to her. No one's probably going to pay Trubel and I too much attention, but they're definitely going to notice the little girl, and I doubt if they're hiding her they're going to let her go without a fight."

"Maybe Adalind's right," Renard said after a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe she should talk to Meisner."

Nick stared at Renard, contemplating. His instinct was to say no, she shouldn't. It was no secret he didn't care for the hero-worship and adoration Adalind and Meisner regarded each other with from the short time they had spent together running for their lives. Didn't like how uncomfortably familiar Meisner seemed to be with Adalind. Nick already had Renard between them, didn't want to invite another man who might hold more sway with Adalind than the one she was living with.

On the other hand, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe Renard was right. Meisner was the key to all this. Likely he would know exactly why Diana was with them, what had happened, why he had never mentioned to Adalind her daughter. He could, although whether he would, answer all their questions about Diana. Could help Nick determine if perhaps the wall wasn't where she needed to be.

It was that thought that had Nick worried that Diana might be too much for them to handle. Why else would Meisner keep her there at the Wall. Clearly whatever sweet little girl tendencies she had exhibited with him were offset by much larger Wesen/hexenbiest problems that had perhaps only been hinted at with the extent of her powers.

How would Diana react to another child? Would she be jealous of Kelly or try to hurt him when she realized she didn't have sole claim on her mother's affections? How would she react to Nick or Adalind if they needed to discipline her? He remembered her as a baby, how her powers had materialized when threatened; wondered if being seven years old was enough to harness that impulsive behavior. Didn't think it was.

There was always the possibility Meisner might even possibly let her go, negating all worries about forcibly taking her from a place with more security than Fort Knox. It would certainly be less trauma for everyone involved.

"Yes! Thank you," Adalind exclaimed, staring pointedly at Nick. He loved her beyond words, but god she was incredibly difficult sometimes.

"I just want to do the right thing," he said defensively. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt by talking to Meisner," she replied, and Renard looked at her with the same expression Nick felt on his face. _That's because you think he's just going to hand her over once you tell him you want her._ Renard glanced at Nick and Nick knew they were thinking the same thing.

Doubtful it was going to be as simple as all that.

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	9. Chapter 9

AN: Oh, it got sooo good, didn't it, that 100th episode? Can't wait to see where they go from there (re: Nadalind)

%%%%%%%%

"Adalind," Meisner said, rather reverently Nick thought.

"Meisner," she said in reply. "It's good to see you," she added.

"Let's cut the crap," Renard cut in, and Nick was glad to see he wasn't the only one irritated by this dog and pony show. "We all know why we're here."

Adalind flashed a look of annoyance at the captain, and smiled apologetically at Meisner. Nick sat at the table next to Adalind, Renard on the other side of her and Meisner sat across from them a rather blank expression on his face. Nick watched him carefully, but other than the slight look of curiosity he gave nothing away. He was as unassuming as any other time Nick had seen them, dressed in H.W's requisite black and Nick thought if nothing else, he was saving money on wardrobe updates by resisting their offer. Although maybe they supplied the uniform, he hadn't ever asked.

"Yes, you said you had some new information you wanted to see me about?" Meisner said, looking from the three of them, eyes resting on Adalind curiously, no doubt wondering why she was here. Probably wondering why both of them were here, actually. Nick had not known of any time in recent history that Meisner had contacted Renard about any of the goings on happening at the Wall, not since Eve had entered their lives.

"Have there been more threats against you?" Meisner asked her seriously, eyes softening. Nick clenched his jaw as Adalind's expression noticeably softened, touch by his concern for her welfare, as if the other two men in the room, notably the one she was currently living with, wouldn't give a damn, or be on top of it if there were?

"No," she assured him.

"She knows you have Diana," Renard said crisply, perhaps annoyed by the behavior as well, and Meisner flicked his eyes away from Adalind to regard Renard carefully. "We want her back," Renard added in a cool tone. Meisner sat back in the chair and regarded each one of them for a long moment.

"Don't bother trying to deny it," Nick said, when it looked like Meisner might be contemplating just that. "I've seen her."

"Yes, I heard you had gone exploring a few times," Meisner replied instead, looking at Nick. Nick smirked slightly. "She's quite taken with you, I think," Meisner said, and the smile abruptly fell off his face. Adalind and Renard sat up straighter.

"Diana?" Renard said, and Adalind glanced at Nick questioningly.

"Yes. She keeps seeking you out, it seems."

"So you have her?" she asked, Meisner, leaning forward. "How?"

"Why?" Renard interjected.

"The royals had her," Meisner said.

"We know that," Nick cut in. "Eve—or Juliette—lured my mom to Portland so they could get her," Nick said coldly, still deeply disturbed by his former love's involvement in orchestrating the brutal death of his mother. "My mother was looking after Diana. The royals took her after they cut off my mother's head."

"Yes, presented her to the King, apparently," Meisner said, and Renard looked unsurprised, Adalind disturbed.

"I saw her get on the helicopter," Nick continued. "Eve had her."

"Yes, the same helicopter my father fell out of," Renard added, and Meisner transferred his gaze to the captain and nodded once.

"Yes, it seems she wasn't as taken with him," Meisner replied, and Nick glanced at Adalind and Renard out of the corner of his eye. Okay, that comment was a bit disturbing.

"Are you saying she somehow pushed him out of a helicopter?" Adalind asked, horrified.

"No," Meisner said, tilting his head. "I did."

Nick didn't miss the quiet sigh of relief from Adalind.

"She didn't appear to be too sorry about it," Meisner added. He looked at Nick. "She knows the king was the reason your mother died," he said, and Nick stared back, keeping a tight rein on his emotions. "She loved her, too."

Nick felt a wave of emotion surge in his gut, nevertheless, and bit it down carefully. His mother had been largely the only maternal figure Diana had known, he supposed. She had only been with Adalind for just a couple of weeks before she was taken away and given to his mother, where she had cared for and loved and raised the girl for the last year or so of her life.

She had done it because it had been the right thing, and Nick wondered at the practicality and strength of his mother. Thought more than once that he fell short in that regard. He wasn't sure that he would be able to view the circumstances then so impartially, knowing all the things Adalind had done to them, to Nick, at that point. The things she would do still. The things they would do to each other before Kelly blew into their lives and forced them to take stock of what all they were doing.

"So have you had her ever since? You told me she was with friends," Renard said, and Meisner glanced back at Renard. Took a sip from the cup of coffee Nick had placed before him when they had first sat down.

Meisner shook his head. "Yes, we moved her around in the resistance for a while, trying to keep her hidden, but that became difficult," he said, and Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Why didn't you give her back to me?" Adalind demanded.

Meisner looked at her. "Didn't know where you were, at first. If you would be safe."

"At first," Nick pointed out. "Trubel told me you had been watching us. You knew about Kelly, and me, and therefore you knew about Adalind, and where she was."

Meisner nodded again. "I did. Had to say that was a surprising arrangement given what we knew of your history together," Meisner remarked and Nick glared at him, not appreciating the commentary on his personal life.

"It's complicated," Adalind said stiffly. "So why, when you found out, why didn't you give her back?" Adalind asked again. "Why didn't you say something? When Trubel showed up, you came to the loft looking for her. You could have told me that you found Diana, that you had her."

"There wasn't any time. Trubel was in danger, that was my only concern. Black Claw could have delivered a critical strike if they had succeeded in her capture. Besides, Diana was still being hidden by the resistance, then. She wasn't with me."

"But you knew she was here. You knew how much the royals wanted her, how hard _we_ worked to escape them, to keep her safe."

"Yes, how much they still wanted her, even though the king was dead. Unfortunately, their quest to recapture your daughter meant too many people were aware of her existence."

"So when did she come to be with you at the wall?" Renard asked.

"Not until about six months ago."

"When all that crap was going on with Louis?" Nick cut in.

"No, after," Meisner said, eyes darting at Adalind who stared back with a troubled expression.

"We had tried to place her with a family that understood her; how powerful she was, but it was becoming too dangerous. You've seen her," Meisner said to Nick. "You understand the kind of powers she has. It was becoming more difficult to keep that under control, keep her existence quiet. A child Wesen with those kind of powers is extraordinary, and something people take notice of. You did, I expect," and Nick nodded reluctantly, aware Adalind was watching him closely.

"So you decided placing my daughter inside that Wesen killing machine factory was a better alternative than contacting me or her mother? I'm not sure I agree with that, my friend," Renard bit out, and Nick glanced at him warily.

"Yes," Meisner said, and Nick had to give him credit. He didn't back down from giving difficult or unpopular answers. Nick registered Adalind tensed beside him, and he looked at her, noticing the same outward unaffected expression Renard was showing; the hidden turmoil bubbling just underneath the surface.

"She doesn't know anybody," Adalind said.

"She knows me, remembers me from when she was born, when I was helping to get you both out of Austria," Meisner said. "She knows Eve, too, a little bit."

"Does she know Eve sold her and my mother out?" Nick asked sardonically, noticing the thunderous look that overtook Adalind's expression. No, he didn't think it would sit well that her daughter was within the influence of a woman Adalind had considered competition for her child-rearing ability, although Nick hadn't particularly seen any inclination of it under this new Eve persona. Juliette, yes, and Nick recalled how unsettled Adalind had been at the thought of Juliette, with her powers suppressed, would swoop in to Nick's life and heart again to raise their son. That she would be replaced and wondered if that was what she was thinking now.

That she had been replaced by an enemy. He wanted to touch her, soothe her fear, but she kept herself tightly wound, and Nick didn't think the gesture would be appreciated.

"You keep my daughter the _hell_ away from Eve," Adalind spat quietly. "I don't want her to turn out _anything_ like her."

"My mother said it was best that she be raised as normally as possible, that she needed to be shown the right way to behave so she _wouldn't_ become a danger to society."

"Yes, one would think a secret government complex conducting a war on a Wesen uprising might not qualify," Renard remarked, still staring coldly at Meisner. "I would think she would be better off with her parents and people that understood her nature, what she's going through, in that case, rather than that place."

"Yes, that's true. She benefitted greatly from even the limited time she got to spend under your mother's care," Meisner acknowledged, "but she's outgrown her handlers and she's needs more experienced care and instruction."

"Handlers? She's a child," Adalind exploded. "Who's more experienced than her mother? Her father? Who's going to love her more than us? Who's both the same thing she is, has gone through what she has? Us!"

"Yes, you're both Hexenbiest-" and Meisner waved away Renard's correction, "but neither of you were or are as advanced or powerful as she is and as she will become."

"That doesn't give you the right to keep her from me," Adalind spat. "I am her mother!"

"You're human," Meisner said, "and for all intents and purposes severely outmatched by her capabilities."

"What do you mean?" Renard asked.

"You've seen what she can do," Meisner said to Nick. "Alter reality, manipulate objects. Imagine those capabilities in the hands of an angry child, throwing a tantrum."

"We've already seen those capabilities from her," Adalind said. "She's had them from birth, you know this."

Nick however wondered at Diana's ability, what Meisner was saying. Thought of Kelly throwing a fit a few weeks ago about eating his food, or wearing a shirt he didn't want to, the meltdown in the supermarket two weeks ago when he couldn't have Adalind's pen to play with, or doing something in general he didn't like. Wondered what he would be like if he had abilities like Diana. Wondered what he would have to do to keep his son in check.

"You understand what I am talking about," Meisner noted, Adalind and Renard looking at Nick. Nick glanced at both and then away, not liking Adalind's accusing look.

"She's not a typical child," Nick said, "but that doesn't mean you treat her like one of your Wesen captives."

"We're not," Meisner said. "Did she look unwell to you?"

"No," Nick admitted. "That doesn't mean she's happy, though."

"Let me tell you how this is going to go," Renard said. "We're getting our daughter back. Now, ideally, that would be because you see how distraught her mother and I are without her, that a child should be reunited with her parents, and that ultimately you want to do the right thing and hand her over to us. But it can also be because I shoot you where you sit right now and then we just take her."

Meisner regarded Renard thoughtfully for a long moment. "Is it? Is it the right thing? Is it the best thing?"

"Yes!" Adalind said, smacking the table hard with her fist. Nick jumped slightly in surprise, Renard too looked at her for a moment, considering, before tightening his jaw and looking at Meisner across from him.

"You should be glad she's human," Renard said, and Nick had to agree. Recognized the look on her face from long ago, when she had been a very dangerous Hexenbiest. You didn't trifle with her and not pay the consequences, and Nick could attest to that several times over.

"I am getting back my daughter. This _isn't_ a discussion," she told Meisner coldly. "I am not leaving without her, and I'm not going to rest until I get her back. She belongs with her family!"

"For how long?" Meisner asked, and Adalind looked at him like he was nuts.

"Forever!"

"What about the royal side of her family?" Meisner asked. "What if they think forever is too long and they came and take her?"

"Leave my family to me," Renard said. "I've handled them before."

"Yes, well, has it been so long that you've forgotten how they just kept coming at you? What about your other child?" Meisner asked Adalind and Nick looked up at him.

"What about him?" Adalind exclaimed impatiently.

"Are you willing to risk his safety?"

"Kelly will be just fine; I'm not going to let anything happen to him."

"The royals might get to him too. May not care what happens to him so long as they achieve their objective in getting your daughter. Might use him, as a matter of fact, to get you to give Diana to them. Not to mention, are you sure Diana wants a little brother?"

"She wouldn't hurt him! And Nick's a Grimm. The royals are going to have to through him before they ever even get close to Kelly or Diana."

"She can live with me," Renard said. "That should help abate any concerns and help keep Kelly safe, and given what lengths the royals went to last time to get her, it's probably for the best."

"Over my dead body! She's living with me."

Renard flashed his eyes angrily at Adalind, Meisner momentarily forgotten, as well as Nick, who was beginning to suspect he had long since been forgotten. Wondered why he was even here other than to support Adalind. Nothing Meisner was saying was anything Nick hadn't thought about before.

"Where is she going to stay?" Renard shouted. "You barely have room for the one you have now," he pointed out and Adalind whirled angrily in her chair to face Renard, so much so that Nick uncrossed his arms from his chest and shifted too, in case he had to grab ahold of her to keep from pummeling his captain.

"We have plenty of room and either way, we can always move or buy a house or something."

Renard scoffed loudly. "When? When your son graduates from high school?"

Nick felt his brow furrow, slightly insulted by the thinly veiled barb.

"Excuse me?" Nick said, but the captain barely spared him a look as he continued to yell at Adalind.

"What kind of life are you going to be able to offer her? You work 70 hours a week now, it's not like you're going to be home with her."

"Excuse me? I can cut back on my job," Adalind retorted.

"Can you?" Renard shot back, and Nick noted the similarity to his and Adalind's own argument when it came to caring for Kelly. Wondered how she felt hearing Renard say it. Wondered how he would provide for two children and Adalind and himself, if she did cut back.

"I can quit," she said. "I don't necessarily have to work, and even if I did, I can do something else," Adalind said.

"Well good luck affording that nice new house," Renard said.

Adalind lurched off her seat, and Nick grabbed her in time before she got to Renard.

"Adalind," Nick said as she struggled against him. "This isn't helping anything."

"No it's not," Renard agreed, getting himself back under control, looking at Adalind warily. She stopped struggling and Nick tugged her back down into her chair, letting go of her after a few seconds where she breathed in and out heavily in the ensuing silence.

Adalind whirled on Nick, eyes bright with color and unshed tears. "What about you?" she said, and Nick looked at her confused.

"What about me?"

"You think she should live with Sean? Do you think she's a danger to Kelly? Do you think I can't take care of my own daughter?"

"Of course not," Nick said. "You know I think you're a good mom."

"But you think she might be a danger to Kelly? She shouldn't live with us?" she persisted.

"I don't know," Nick said quietly. "I'm not saying that she shouldn't live with us, just that I'm concerned what might happen if she does."

Two tears hovered at the edge of her lower lids and she looked away from Nick, as though the sight of him pained her and Nick leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and grabbing her hands before she pulled away from him.

"Adalind," he said, aware Meisner and Renard were watching them closely. "She hasn't had much in the way of a typical life in the last few months. She has to get used to us just as we've got to get used to her. It's a big adjustment for everybody if we do this, but I'm not saying it's not something we can't figure out, or that I'm against your daughter coming to live with us. We have to figure out what's going to be best for her because that's ultimately what's going to best for everyone, whether we like it or not."

She slammed the table with both fists, launching to her feet, the heavy chair sliding loudly across the floor.

"I want to see my daughter!" She screamed. "Do you have _any_ idea what I've gone through since she was taken from me?

"The things I have done to try and get her back? How long I grieved over her loss? How many people have been affected by it? I took away a Grimm's powers, because I thought the royals had her and they promised me if I took care of Nick I could have her back, and you know what it seemed like his comeuppance for his part in taking Diana away from me. Then after ruining Nick's life and hopping on a plane to Austria I have to plead my way through the gate only to find out that they didn't have her! Someone in the resistance apparently did! Don't worry though, I had plenty of time to ruminate on that when I was locked in a dungeon for _weeks_ , with no one but the rats and hallucinations to talk to. Oh, and the fucking remnants of the spell I used on Nick to help drive me batty. You can be sure that it was as fun for me as it was for you," she remarked sardonically to Nick. "Then, when they finally release me from that hell hole and fly me halfway across the world again to discover that not only am I _pregnant_ again, with a Grimm's baby, but that the royals are still after my daughter, and because of what I did to Nick and what _he_ did to undo it, Juliette's a hexenbiest and helps to kill the only woman I might remotely consider acceptable to be raising my daughter other than me, and hands Diana straight over to the royals, and once again, _I don't have my daughter!_

"So, let _me_ tell you how this is going to go. I am getting my daughter back. I don't care if I have to move to the fucking Wall myself, but she is not going to go another day without me as her mother taking care of her."

Meisner almost smiled, a look of admiration flitting across his face. Nick crossed his arms again over his chest and crossed his legs, resting his ankle on his knee and making sure to bump the table with it as he did. It made a loud noise, and Meisner pulled his eyes away from Adalind to Nick, who glared thunderously at him. Meisner sobered and he looked at Adalind again.

"How do you plan on protecting her? She's safe at the Wall."

"Are you kidding me? You know I'm a police captain right?" Renard interjected. "And did you miss the part where Nick's a Grimm?"

"And when the royals come do you think that will save you?"

"I've fought the royals before," Nick said, although he'd really prefer not to do it again any time soon, given what it had cost him the last time.

"So have I. Have you forgotten?" Renard said pointedly to Meisner.

"What about school? Interaction with other children? With your son?" Nick glanced at Adalind out of the corner of his eyes. "And if it doesn't work? If she's too much for you or your family to handle, then what?"

"Regardless of how she'll react, it's not your decision to make," Adalind said. "You are not her father. Sean and I and Nick can make those decisions."

"Nick's not her father, either," Renard said, and Nick glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

 _No, I'll just be the one she's living with, who's feeding and clothing her and taking care of her,_ Nick thought sourly.

"No, but I'm the closest thing she's had to one since she was born," Meisner said quietly. "I care about what happens to her and I don't want to see her hurt."

"Do you care about me?" Adalind asked. "Do you want to see me hurt?"

Nick recalled the conversation weeks ago in the parking garage of Adalind's law office, when he had found Meisner keeping an eye on Adalind. Meisner looked at Adalind for a long, long moment before he heaved a quiet, deep sigh.

"No."

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If you likey (or even if you don't likey), please take a moment to comment. It helps keep the writing going.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Story is finally finito on my end, so chapters may come a more quickly. Then again, maybe not.

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Nick looked up from where he was assisting Kelly with his dinner when the elevator motor sounded, eyebrows lifting in surprise when a few moments later, Adalind raised the safety gate and stepped off.

"Hey," he said, and Kelly cried out "Mama!" enthusiastically.

"You're home early," Nick said, checking his watch, which read 6:47 p.m. on the dial.

"Yeah," she agreed, tossing her briefcase on the counter and biting her lip.

"Everything okay?" Nick asked, noticing her expression. She had been anxious and irritable and preoccupied ever since their talk with Meisner. He stood up from the table and strode towards her.

"We need to start getting everything ready for Diana," Adalind said.

It had been two days since their conversation with Meisner. In a little over a day, Adalind would join Nick at the Wall and lay eyes on her daughter for the first time in three years.

"Well, we've got the guest room ready to go," Nick started and stopped when Adalind flashed him a look.

"No. That's not—it's not good enough. The guest room? Is this something just temporary?" she asked. Nick furrowed his brow in confusion, not sure what she was getting at.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we're acting like she's just visiting, Nick, until we decide this little experiment isn't going to work!"

"What are you talking about?" Nick exclaimed. 

"I'm talking about Sean's right, Nick. There's no room here for another child. There's barely room for Kelly now."

"So what are you saying? You want to move? Tonight?"

"Yes. Yes, I want to move. We need to start acting like this isn't a summer vacation for her. That we're serious about having her back into our lives and being a part of our family."

Nick snorted. "Okay, fine, fine, fine." He held up his hands in submission. "Sure. We can move, but Adalind it's not like we're going to be able to find a house and move into it in the next four hours."

"I've found us a house."

Nick did a double-take. "Uh, what?"

"I've found us a house."

"You found us a house," he repeated. Would he ever stop being surprised?

"Uh-huh, here," she said, pulling out a laptop and turning it on. Nick watched her tap a few keys and a moment later the browser came up, a large craftsman style home, typical of Portland and the wooded area surrounding the city, came on screen. It appeared to be fairly newly built, perhaps ten years old and Nick looked at Adalind again and bent forward to click through the pictures.

"See, it's perfect. It's four bedrooms, three baths, a nice kitchen, a huge yard, there's a study for my work, and two fireplaces—look at that, one in the master bedroom—walk in closets. It's everything we need!"

Nick finished scrolling through the pics and straightened, feeling slightly overwhelmed, when he caught sight of the price.

"It's a fortune," he said, looking at the listing. "Adalind, I can't afford this." He wasn't even sure with their combined income if they could afford it. She had adapted well to their comparatively simplistic living when they had first moved to the loft; had no choice in the matter really. The only thing that mattered was the safety and well-being of their son, not the creature comforts, but he was reminded she was used to far cushier surroundings than what they had been living with for the last couple of years. She had spent a lot of time and money to upgrade the loft into something that was more in line with what she preferred, but her dress and overall appearance belied her more champagne tastes.

"Nick! It's in a great school district," she said, and Nick was also reminded that in three years those would be things that would matter greatly. Hell, in a few months, with Diana looking like a first grader.

"Adalind," he said, sighing, wondering how he was going to be the voice of reason on this. "It is a beautiful house," he admitted, and she grinned triumphantly. "But we can't afford this," and the smile dimmed, disappeared, and she turned away abruptly, snapping the laptop shut.

"Adalind," he pleaded. "I'm not saying we can't move into a house somewhere, but we need to look at something with a slightly smaller price tag. We'll find something, just give it a little time."

"We don't have time, Nick. My daughter is moving in with us in another day. The realtor can show it to us tonight and we can make an offer. The buyer is desperate to move, apparently. We could close on it by the end of the month."

"How desperate?" Nick asked. "Like knock a hundred thousand off the asking price desperate. Two?"

Adalind flashed him another unamused look. "I doubt it, but I think we might be able to get it about thirty thousand or so less."

Nick shook his head, "It's still too much, Adalind, I'm sorry," he added, and she nodded, and moved away from him.

"We could afford it, you know," she said, opening the fridge and pouring herself a glass of wine. "I ran the numbers," she added. "What I make, plus what you make, you still have a little money from when you sold your house before. I still have some money from the bonus Berman gave me on the settlement from the Abermeier case, plus I can withdraw some money from my 401K. We can put down a nice down payment and then really, the house payments are quite reasonable. It's in a great neighborhood, and like I say, the school district is phenomenal," she said, eyeing Nick before taking a large sip of her wine.

Nick frowned. "It's a lot of money, Adalind," he said.

"Is it?"

"Yes, I mean it's a really great house, but how am I going to be able to afford food and electricity, Kelly's daycare, and everything else."

"We would share in that," she replied. "Like we share in raising our son, and…Diana."

Nick looked at her, and she stepped closer and slid an around his neck and pressed her lips against his cheek. "Maybe one day, even, another baby," she added between kisses and he looked at the still closed laptop. "There's plenty of room," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I mean, it's kind of big for us, don't you think?" Nick asked, aware that she was trying to work him over, use her considerable feminine wiles to manipulate him into doing what she wanted. She needn't try so hard, he thought. He had found he hated to disappoint her, did half the unpleasant or difficult things he did in life lately for her anyway, so he wouldn't have to see the realization he wasn't capable of all the things she seemed to believe he was.

"We'll need the space with two…maybe one day three…children," she said, mouth lingering over his jaw, and Nick met her eyes, her mouth connecting with his, the taste of her wine on her lips. She closed her eyes, hands sliding up to his head, mouth opening, urging him to deepen the kiss. He pulled back, knowing that he needed to keep a level head with all they were talking—and not talking—about. He was more susceptible to her manipulations than he liked to let on, was well aware that she had enough influence on him to spin him around and confuse him.

She opened her eyes, searching his, seeing into their depths, perhaps more than Nick was comfortable with. She knew him pretty well now.

He wasn't sure what he wanted to respond with first. The house she was trying to convince him to buy with her. That they both apparently thought about having another child together. The fact he wanted a more committed arrangement before that. That Diana would be essentially a daughter to him, if not in name than in assumption. That he wasn't against that but he was nervous and concerned about his ability to fill that role with such an exceptional child and what her addition would mean for all of them.

He cupped her face with his hands. "One day…maybe, yeah, but we have some other things we need to discuss first."

"Like…putting an offer in on our new house?" she said, fingers sliding through the hair at the nape of his neck. She smiled sweetly at him. Her mouth connected with his again, before he could remind himself to stay focused, not let himself be swayed by her.

"No," he said, breaking away. "I know what you're doing."

"What am I doing?" she asked, eyes wide, a tad too innocently to be believable. He gave her a look and slipped out of her grasp.

"Mama," Kelly hollered, capturing her attention, and Nick realized he was still sitting in his high chair by the table.

"Kell-bell!" Adalind replied, and Nick watched her stride to their son, press a kiss to his cheek. "Kell-bell do you want to see the big yard you can play in?"

"Adalind," Nick said warningly, shaking his head. "We're not buying that house. It's too much for us."

"Daddy thinks we can't afford it, and that it's too big, but he hasn't seen it yet, has he?"

"I just saw pictures of it," Nick replied. "I've seen plenty."

"But not in person. Come on. You can't make an informed decision without truly seeing it first." She grabbed a towel off the counter and cleaned Kelly's face and hands.

"Adalind, I'm not buying a house and we've got some other things we really need to talk about."

"After you've seen the house," she replied, picking Kelly up from his chair and slinging her purse over her other shoulder.

"No, Adalind—" but she kissed him again, cutting him off. She grabbed his hand and started tugging him to the door, Kelly looking at Nick over her shoulder, smiling widely.

"Come on, we're going to be late. I told Emily we would meet her at eight."

"Emily?"

"Our realtor," she explained.

"Adalind," he said with an exasperated sigh.

"What, even if you don't choose this one, we'll need a realtor. You just said we can move."

"I didn't mean this week!"

%%%%%%%%

"Emily, this is Nick," Adalind introduced, and Nick held his hand out with a polite, strained smile.

"Hi," a woman in her fifties, with stylish salt and pepper gray hair and cankles smiled warmly at Nick as she shook his hand.

"So nice to meet you, I told Adalind it's a good thing she contacted me and let me know what you were looking for. This just came up on the market and the buyer is very eager to sell."

Nick looked at Adalind who smiled and set a squirming Kelly down. He ran around the room, anxious to explore, and Nick watched him run to the glass paned French doors, and the windows, his little voice echoing in the large space, and then Nick rolled his eyes as Kelly realized that and began to scream and shriek experimentally, laughing as the sound bounced around the room.

"Sorry," Nick said, and Emily just grinned.

"I have two granddaughters his age, it's okay."

"Oh?" Adalind asked politely.

"Yes, twins," Emily said and watched Nick grab ahold of his son. "As you can see the great room is a nice space for your family. A large, bright room," she indicated the windows and the patio doors, "with the first of two fireplaces we'll see. It's open to the kitchen," and she pointed to that space, "and there's plenty of room for entertaining if you're into that," she added.

"Not really," Nick said, and Adalind fixed him with a glare.

"Yes, of course," she replied, smiling at Emily. She grabbed Nick's free arm and squeezed it, admonishing him, as Emily led them over to the kitchen and breakfast nook, and he said nothing else as they followed Emily around the house.

The house _was_ spectacular in person, Nick could admit. Definitely right up Adalind's alley. And yes, maybe even Nick's. The backyard was huge, large trees framing the lot, a brick patio Nick could imagine Kelly bouncing a ball on. Could imagine Kelly running at top speed around the yard, no need to take weekly sojourns to the park. They could put a playset here, and he could be content for hours, Nick could grill out, invite Monroe and Rosalee and Hank and Wu, and then shook his head abruptly before he got even more carried away.

Once, yes, he had imagined a life like that for himself, free from worry, but that had been before he was a Grimm and now he knew how unlikely that life could be for him. Thought of his own parents, what few memories he could recall of his mother and father and their life before his dad had been killed. They had been normal, or seemed normal, once. Going to ball games, and grilling out, playing catch with his dad every Sunday afternoon, but it had caught up to them. The Grimm/Wesen life, and both of his parents were gone because of it.

He looked around, past the trees, to the other homes beyond. The houses weren't close together, not like where he had lived before. They were separated by large yards, but Nick wondered who their neighbors would be, if he should bother even trying to know. Knowing them hadn't saved the ones who had been killed by the verrat when he had lived with Juliette.

He thought of the verrat again, the risk they were undertaking by having Diana in their lives. They were better off in the loft, he thought. No collateral damage that way. Just the people involved if it went south, and the odds were it would.

"Wait till you see the master bath," Emily said as they climbed the stairs. "There are three more bedrooms upstairs in addition to the master bedroom, one of course would be very nice for your little one," she said winking at Kelly. "One could be a play room and another a guest room. Did you say you had two children?" she asked suddenly, stopping for a moment.

"Yes, a daughter from a previous relationship," Adalind said.

"Oh, that's nice," Emily remarked, and Nick suppressed a sigh. "Well this could be nice for a little girl, don't you think?"

"Mm-hmm," Adalind agreed, giving Nick an inquisitive look as she passed by him on the way to the master suite. He stood in the doorway with Kelly as Emily and Adalind walked around the room, pointing out the fireplace, his and her walk in closets, and the bath.

"There's an unfinished room above the garage that could be a fifth bedroom," Emily added, and circled round and came to a stop in front of Nick and smiled brightly, Nick reciprocating with a weaker version as Emily said, "I've got a few phone calls to make. I'm going to let you both look at your leisure and then you can get with me when you're ready."

"Thank you," Adalind replied, and Nick stepped aside to let her pass and set Kelly down and watched him wander around the room. He was wearing down, would probably be asleep in the next twenty minutes. Adalind smiled at her son, patting his head affectionately as he moved around her, police car in hand, before Kelly kneeled down and began to run it along the carpet.

"Well, it looks like Kelly likes it," Adalind said with a smile that faltered a little when she observed the expression on Nick's face. "Aaaaaaand what do you think?" she asked, looping her arms around his neck.

"You already know what I think, and what my answer is."

"Niiiiick," she said, pulling him into the room. "Come look at it with me."

"I've been looking at it with you," he said.

"No, no, no. Come here. Look at this," she said, dragging him into the bathroom. "Double vanity. No more fighting over the sink in the morning," she said enticingly, and Nick moved when he felt Kelly's hands push against his legs, shoving him out of the way.

"Although, we've had some nice disagreements over that, haven't we?" Adalind added as an afterthought, lips curling, and Nick shrugged, trying to remain unaffected, closing his eyes when he felt her mouth graze his neck. Yes, that had been the source of a couple fantastic mornings. More fodder for staying at the loft, he thought.

He heard a _sploosh_ and then, "Uh-oh." Adalind and Nick broke apart and looked beyond them to Kelly, staring wide-eyed into the toilet bowl. He pointed to it when he met Nick's eyes. "Dada, ma cah," and Nick realized the police car was now submerged.

Nick fished it out of the toilet and rinsed it off in the sink, shaking the water off it when he was done. Kelly reached for it and Nick wiped it on his jeans and handed it back, ignoring Adalind's horrified gasp.

"Kelly!" Nick said right before Kelly threw the car right back into the toilet.

"Uh-oh," Kelly said, looking at Nick again. Nick flashed Adalind a dark look, fished the car out of the toilet and rinsed it off again. He held it away when Kelly came over to him, holding his hands out for it.

"Sorry, buddy, that's it. I'm going to hang on to it." Kelly emitted a high-pitched sound of frustration and indignation. "No," Nick said, and then watched as Kelly plopped down on the floor and threw a tantrum.

"Are we done? I'm ready to go home now," Nick said.

"Nick," Adalind said.

"And," Nick said, handing Adalind the car and bending down to pick Kelly up off the floor. "I think it's past somebody's bedtime."

He tried not to wince as Kelly wailed loudly next to his ear, patting his back distractedly, as he herded Adalind out of the bathroom.

"Nick, I think we really need to consider this. This is a great place for us," she said.

"Adalind," Nick said, annoyed, Kelly still blowing his ear off with his cries.

"Here, give him his car, we can shut the door to the bathroom," Adalind said. She handed Kelly his car and then frowned when Kelly threw it on the floor in a fit of temper. She held her hands out for their son and Nick gladly passed him to her, moving away from them both, as he took a few deep breaths, finally taking note of the room.

"Shhh," Adalind soothed Kelly, gently bouncing him in her arms, before rubbing her hand along his back.

"And you think we should have another one?" Nick said, as though he hadn't thought the same thing. She gave her a dark look of her own.

"You don't?" she asked, still rocking Kelly in her arms.

"We've got enough to deal with him, and now Diana." She looked up at Nick, and he looked away, out the window. He moved towards it, taking in the view of the backyard, and the patio below.

"So you're against another baby, then?" she said, her voice twisted. Nick sighed.

"No," he said, turning to face her. "I'm not against us having another baby one day, but Adalind come on, we're not even married."

"So. We weren't married for this one. Are you saying you want to be married?" she asked, looking at him in surprise.

"Do you?" he asked, realizing he had never solicited her opinion on marriage.

"I'm not against it," she said, drifting closer, Kelly finally calming and lowering the volume to something that didn't induce tears of pain in those around him.

"You want to get married?" she said, and Nick realized this conversation was getting off point a little from what he was trying to focus on.

"Yeah, I mean, I think it would be—one day," he said, "Look—"

"To me?" she said and Nick placed his hands on his hips and gave her a look.

"Who else?"

"I don't know. If you would have asked me that two years ago I would have said anybody else."

"Yes, that's true, but a lot's changed in two years, you know this."

"Tell me about it. Nicholas Burkhardt wants to marry _me._ Huh," she said, sounding totally floored by the concept. "Mrs. Nicholas Burkhardt. Mrs. Adalind Burkhardt. Adalind Burkhardt. Huh."

She looked up at Nick, and then smiled widely, making Nick's heart start thumping loudly in his chest. She bounced on her tip-toes and pressed her mouth against his.

"You know what would make a great wedding gift? A new house," she said, and grinned at her cleverness, kissing Kelly's cheek, eyes dancing at Nick. Nick rolled his eyes.

"Okay, first off, I haven't asked you yet," Nick said, "and secondly—" but was cut off by Adalind's mouth on his again, her arm looping around his neck, kissing the life out of him.

"Actually, you sort of did," she said when they broke off.

"No I didn't."

"Yeah, you did."

"Really, did _Adalind, will you marry me?_ Pass through my lips at any point?"

"It did now," she said excitedly, kissing him again and Nick smiled despite himself.

"Ha, very clever."

She grinned, Kelly turning his head to look at his mother bouncing excitedly, bouncing him, before she kissed Nick long and deep.

"See, now we _have_ to buy this house," she added when she came up for air. "I mean, this is the spot where you asked me to marry you. We can't let this place go."

"Adalind."

"Nick."

"Oh my god. _You're_ not going to let this go, are you?" Nick said, looking at the ceiling. "Adalind—" he said, breaking off looking around him. "You're telling me we really afford this? You're sure."

"Yes!" she said, running her fingers along his coat. "We can do this. And still afford food. And electricity. And clothes, and toys for the kids and maybe even a vacation once in a while. I have it all on a spreadsheet."

Kids. Plural.

Nick plummeted back to reality and stepped away from her.

"We need to talk about Diana," Nick said, and her enthusiasm dimmed.

"She'll love it here, don't you think? A nice big back yard to play in? Has to be better than that godforsaken place she's in now."

"Adalind, the last time the Verrat tried to get to her, they killed everyone who lived around me. Is that the way you want to ingratiate yourself with our neighbors? I don't know if I can handle that happening again. Those people are dead because of me and what I did."

"Those people are dead because what Eve-Juliette, whatever—did."

"Either way they're still dead, and Diana's at the center of it. We move somewhere we need to be conscious of the risk we can potentially be bringing to the neighborhood."

"We're not so close to the neighbors here as your other house was," Adalind said.

"It's close enough."

She chewed on her lip, and while she was considering her argument to that, Nick decided to go ahead and take the plunge with his next concern.

"What role do you expect me to have with Diana?" Nick asked her.

"What do you mean?" Adalind said.

"I mean, she has a father. Renard. Who doesn't sound overly excited for me to have any part in that. What do you expect from me? What's my role in this? I feel like I'm intruding somehow."

"You're like, her…step-father, I guess," Adalind said, uncertainly. "Depending on when we get married, and I don't give a damn what Sean thinks about it. You actually think he's going to do half the things with Diana you do now with Kelly?"

"Honestly? Yeah, I think he might." She sighed, annoyed, perhaps by the validity of his argument. She still held Renard responsible for taking Diana from her and therefore was loathe to give him any sort of credit for parenting ability or good intentions where she was concerned.

"What's the problem? Do you not want her?" she asked, hurt creeping into her voice, and she hugged Kelly tighter to her defensively.

"No, it's not that," Nick said.

"What? Don't you want her here with us, with our son?"

"I'm not opposed to her being here, Adalind."

"No, maybe you're not opposed, but you're not enthusiastic about it either," she noted. He sighed and looked away, knowing she was becoming irritated with him.

"What do you want me to be?"

"Happy! My daughter is finally back with her mother and people that love her."

"I am happy for you! Do you think I want you to be without your daughter? That I'm trying to keep you from her? I want you to be with your daughter Adalind, and I want you to be with me, and I want your daughter to be with us," he said, drifting closer. "I am concerned, though."

"About?"

"Like it or not, we have another child, Adalind. We need to make sure he's safe too."

"Safe from his sister, you mean?"

"I don't know. If need be, yeah. I'm hoping it doesn't ever come to that."

"And what if it does?"

"Adalind."

"That's what you're asking right? No, Nick, you're right. What if I have to choose between my daughter and my son?" she asked, eyes filling with tears, and Kelly looked at her concernedly, patting her cheek. She looked at him, and then Nick. "What if I have to give her up again? How do I live with myself?"

"Adalind, come here," Nick said, and she let him pull her into his arms.

"You think I haven't run over the scenarios in my head a hundred times? You think I want to put Kelly at risk?"

"Shh," he said, and Kelly patted his cheek, too, and Nick placed a kiss against the chubby palm, pulling Adalind tighter against him. "Listen, I promise you we're going to give her the best home, and the best love and support a little girl can possibly have. We have you, and you're a great mother, and we have Renard, and Renard's mother to help if we need Hexenbiest support. Rosalee and Monroe. Hank and Wu. We've got it covered. And I hope to god because of that we don't ever have to make the choice between Diana or Kelly." She nodded, sniffling, and he felt his shirt grow wet where her face was pressed against him.

"Meisner. We have Meisner, too," Adalind said, and Nick snorted in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me?" he said. "After he hid her from you?"

"Yeah. I know," she said. "But the truth is he's another resource if we need it. If she is too much for us to handle."

Nick shook his head. "Unbelievable," he muttered.

"Don't be jealous," she said.

"I'm not jealous!" Nick exclaimed indignantly. She pulled away and gave him a look.

"You think I don't see the way you look at him anytime we're in a room together?" she said.

"How? How do I look at him?" Nick said.

"Glower. You glower at him. Like you wish you had your cross bow."

"Well, I'm sorry I don't look at him with googly eyes, like some," he retorted, and she smirked.

"First off, I do not look at him with googly eyes—what are you, twelve?—and secondly, I am one hundred percent in love with you. Spoken for as a matter of fact," she said. "Seeing how we've recently decided to take the plunge."

She wiggled her ring finger. "A visual deterrent might help," she suggested, and Nick glowered, to borrow her word.

"Not going to be able to afford it if I buy this place," he said. "I hope you're fond of cubic zirconia."

"Ha," she said with a watery smile.

"I'm told it looks almost just like the real thing," Nick added.

"God, I love you," she said, and Nick started a little at the baseness of her statement. It had not initially been easy for her to confess her feelings for him, so it was shocking sometimes to hear it stated in such a bald statement.

"You're just trying to get me to buy this house," he said, deflecting, and she grinned again, pressing against him, Kelly squirming to be let down.

"True," she said, "but I also love you."

"Mm-hmm."

"And as for Diana…I expect…I _hope_ you'll treat her the same as you do Kelly, and maybe…maybe love her a little like you do Kelly. Even half as much," Adalind said.

"Done and done," Nick said, hoping he wouldn't disappoint her, that the transition would be so easy, but already he was sensing some resentment brewing from Renard with the arrangement he would soon have with Diana in his and Adalind's everyday life. She smiled again, softer and more vulnerable, and Nick bent his head down to kiss her.

"Did we make a decision?"

Nick and Adalind jerked apart, Adalind turning to face Emily who was looking expectantly at them.

"I think so," Adalind said, looking at Nick who rolled his eyes and glanced up at the ceiling again. He ticked a muscle in his jaw for a moment and nodded once, not missing Adalind's ecstatic smile when he looked back down.

%%%%%%%%

Please take a moment to review. It makes an authors day.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: I'm a pushover. Here's the next one. A bit o'fluff.

%%%%%%%%

"You all right?" Hank asked.

Nick looked up blearily from the computer monitor and rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah. What makes you say that?"

"You look half-dead. You worried about Diana?"

"No, not any more than usual. Why?"

"You look like you didn't get much sleep, that's why."

Ah.

Yes, well, that had been due to late-into-the-night discussions with the realtor, then about moving, what they would do with the loft, Kelly, Diana, the house they had placed an offer on, and then a nice bout of engagement/housebuying/child-coming-and-no-idea-when-it-will-happen-again sex, which Nick made sure to draw out and enjoy as he didn't see it happening anytime soon for a while.

"Yeah, stayed up late, talking."

"Talking?" Hank replied, disbelievingly. "I know what that means," and he grabbed his coffee in disgust.

"What?" Nick said.

"Nothing. I miss _talking_ ," Hank remarked. "Talking into the night…the morning…the day…those furious talks and those nice slow romantic talks—"

"Okay, well, thank you…for that," Nick said, waving his hand for Hank to stop.

"I never knew you were so chatty until you met Adalind," Hank said with a smirk, and Nick flashed him a look.

"What? I like to talk," Nick said, smile playing on his lips. "Talking's nice sometimes."

"So do I."

"As it happens I had a reason for talking," Nick explained.

"Do you need a reason to talk?" Hank asked. "Do you two find it easier?"

"Okay," Nick said, closing his eyes, and caught Hank snickering at him.

"Funny. The reason why no one wants to _talk_ to you is becoming clearer," Nick said rudely and Hank snorted as he leaned back in his chair. "And we were actually conversing, for one, and another, as it happens, one of the reasons is I am getting married. I think."

"What?" Hank asked sitting up. "When did this happen?"

"Last night."

"You asked Adalind to marry you?"

"Yes. Apparently."

"Apparently? You don't know?"

"No, I know. We were discussing some things—Diana, and the future—and marriage came up—and somehow or another we wound up engaged, I guess."

"You guess? Man if I had known you were so bad at asking I could have helped you more with Juliette. No wonder she said no," Hank said, and Nick gave him a dirty look. "What? Too soon to joke?"

"You're hilarious."

"Who brought up getting married?"

"I…did," Nick admitted, wondering where Hank was going with this question.

"No surprise there," Hank said, taking a sip of his coffee. "You're sure about this? It's a big step."

"Yeah," Nick said.

"You want to make Adalind your wife?" Hank insisted.

"Yes, I do," he said, looking away from Hank, suddenly afraid he would see censure or judgment there. "I mean, we've already got a kid together. We've been living together for the last two years. It's been great. This seems like the right step for us."

"Congratulations," Hank said, and Nick glanced up, meeting his eyes, seeing sincerity there. He nodded once in acknowledgment.

"Thanks."

"So….who's gonna be your best man?" Hank asked, looking at Nick, and Nick barked out a laugh.

"Dude, I just got engaged." _Sort of. I think_ , he thought.

"Don't say Monroe, do not say Monroe. I know you were best man at his wedding but I've known you longer. And let's not forget, I was with you the first time you saw Adalind."

"Oh, you mean when you were checking her out."

"You were checking her out, too."

"No, I was profiling her."

"Hey, couch it in whatever fancy terminology you like but you were drooling a little, too."

"Oh my god, I was with Juliette. How dare you?" Nick said, leaning back in his own chair to stare at Hank in mock offense. He opened his mouth to reply when he caught sight of Adalind breezing into the station, for the second time in a week. This time she stopped at Nick's desk, her intended destination.

She looked very well put together, having taken great care this morning to look sophisticated, capable, and in control. She was wearing a black suit, one with a flare in the skirt, and a cream colored silk blouse with a vertically pleated neck. She wore platform four-inch heels, and another expensive Hermes scarf, gold earrings and watch, and her hair was fixed in wavy curls.

"Hey Hank," she said to him and Hank raised his coffee in salute, and then turned to Nick, digging into her briefcase. "I've got some papers for you to sign."

"Pre-nup already?"

"What?" Adalind asked, looking at Hank in confusion.

"Nothing," Nick said, throwing his pen at Hank. "What do you got?"

"The realtor brought this by. They accepted our bid on the house!" she said, bouncing excitedly.

"What?" Nick said, looking up at her in surprise.

"What?" Hank said. "Realtor?"

"Oh yeah, apparently, I bought a house last night, too," Nick said to him.

"Wow, you just had a banner night. Sure you weren't drunk?"

Nick glared, and Adalind looked at him and Hank in confusion.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"I hear congratulations are in order," Hank told Adalind.

"Uh, sure?" she said hesitantly, still uncertain as to what he was talking about.

"I told him we got engaged…or something."

"Oh," she replied, smiling. "Yes, thank you."

"I need your pen," Nick said, taking her expensive executive pen from her hand and signing his name by the sticky flag arrow indicating _sign here._ "This is nice," Nick remarked, writing with it.

"Thanks. I want it back."

"So, let's see the ring," Hank said, looking at Adalind. Nick stopped writing and looked up.

"I didn't—"

"I don't have—" Adalind began at the same time, shaking her head and holding up her bare ring finger for inspection.

"Wow. No ring. Man, you are horrible at this," Hank told him.

"Sorry, I haven't had as much practice as you," Nick replied acidly.

"Mm, you're halfway there," he said, and grinned when Nick and Adalind looked at him.

"He's not invited to the wedding," Nick said, as Adalind flipped a couple of pages and pointed to the next section.

"That hurts, man."

"I was thinking we should just elope, or go down to the courthouse. Date and initial."

Nick looked at her in surprise, and then back down to where she was pointing. "Right. Okay."

That was surprising. Obviously they still had some things to discuss.

"Really? No ring? You?" Hank said after a moment and Nick thought about what it would be like to stab Hank with Adalind's perfectly weighted and balanced pen. He tossed the pen down on his desk, and opened one of the drawers.

"Here," he said, pulling out a key ring with two keys attached. He removed the two keys, to what he had no idea, they had been in the desk when it had been assigned to him, and grabbed Adalind's left hand.

"With this keyring ring I thee wed," Nick said, offering it to Adalind, who wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

"No thanks, you promised me cubic zirconia, I'm going to hold out."

"Your loss," Nick said, glaring at Hank and picking up his pen again.

"Cubic zirconia—seriously, Nick? Where did I go wrong with you?" Hank said, shaking his head.

"All about the bling, aren't you," Nick said, glancing up at Adalind, hiding a smile. "Now I see where Diana gets it from."

Adalind looked at him in surprise.

"Diana? Why do you say that?"

"Every time I've seen her she's been dressed in something sparkly. Plus, I asked her if she liked sparkles, and she said yes."

"I didn't know that," Adalind said, a strange lilt to her voice, and Nick looked up at her in concern. "What else does she like?"

Nick suddenly wondered what it was like to have to ask the man who helped take her daughter away from her what that daughter was like.

"I…honestly don't know. I know nothing about little girls and even less about her. The color pink, maybe. Purple. Not sure. She didn't have a whole lot of personal effects in her room, but those were the two colors it was decorated in. Don't know if that's just what they picked for her or if she picked it."

"Hmm," Adalind replied, looking pensive.

"You go to get her this afternoon?" Hank asked.

"Yeah," Nick said, Adalind nodding, emotions still evident on her face.

"Captain going with you?" he asked Nick, and Nick shook his head. Renard had still expressed some concern about the wisdom of taking Diana essentially out of hiding, which Adalind had taken to be disapproval or lack of support with what she wanted, and Nick had taken to be maybe a more prudent vein of thought. Renard was just as anxious as she was to see his daughter, though, and Nick thought it might be wise to not mistake his caution for lack of caring.

"I don't think Meisner even wanted me or Adalind to go to the wall, but we've both been there, not to mention I think Adalind would have come across the table had he said no," Nick remarked looking at her. "He doesn't want any one already unfamiliar with the Wall there."

"I have to wait in the car," Adalind said stiffly, still angry over Meisner's command. That had been all he had been willing to concede to Adalind, and Nick in some ways couldn't blame him for wanting to avoid what surely would be a highly emotional event.

"We'll meet the Captain at his house after that," Nick said, answering Hank's question. "That it?" he asked, looking up, and she flipped a couple of more pages and pointed again.

"Sign and date," she said and Nick complied, and looked at Hank who was shaking his head at the two of them.

"What?" Nick asked testily.

"Nothing."

"That's it," Adalind said, taking the papers when he sat back in his chair and looked at her expectantly. "In thirty days or less we'll be new homeowners," she said. "Or, I guess I will be. You've already—never mind," she said. "Anyway, that's one thing off the table."

"You've got a busy day, or is Lane and Daniel taking care of everything?"

"No, busy day, but wanted to get down here and get this taken care of so I can get it back to the realtor. Meetings and court at eleven to file a couple of motions, and then a meeting with the Lizstein board after lunch and basically I've got to go back to work and pretend for the next six hours that everything's fine, that I'm not going to see for the first time in three years the daughter that was taken from me."

"Right."

She flashed a smile at Nick, and Hank who was looking at her in concern, too.

"I'll be fine," she said, and both men looked at her disbelievingly. "That's not helping." She leaned down to place a kiss on Nick's cheek, and Nick stood when she pulled back.

"Here I'll walk you out," he said, and she looked at him curiously and bade Hank goodbye.

They walked in silence out into the corridor, Nick's hand on the small of her back guiding her to a spot down the hall and off to the side.

"You going to be okay?"

"Yeah," she said, affecting a bright smile. "Have to be, right?"

"Adalind," he said, and she shook her head.

"No, I have to be. I need to get through the afternoon without…without falling apart…which is what I feel like doing, and just focus on the fact that tonight, my daughter and my son and I are all going to go to sleep tonight under the same roof."

He nodded and pulled her close and he felt her take a deep breath. "I just wish we could get her and just take her straight home with us. I don't want to stop at Sean's. It's so much for her take in, Nick."

"I know, but the captain wants to see her, also. He's waited a long time for her, too."

She made no acknowledgment to his remark, and Nick wondered what thoughts were circling in her mind that she wasn't voicing. She pulled away after a minute.

"I guess I should go, before Berman fires me."

"Yeah, especially now that we've got that house under contract," Nick said, only half-joking.

She had wrangled six weeks of leave out of Berman, Nick not sure what excuse she used, but after promising she would try to continue to work from home, and whatever else she threw in there he had finally relented. She would spend the next month and a half at home with her daughter, becoming acclimated to their new living arrangement and packing for their new home. Nick had burned up a week of his vacation to help move into their new house.

"Right," she said, and Nick ran a hand over her cheek, the one Louis had broken months ago, that had long since healed. She smiled, and placed another kiss on his cheek, then rubbed a finger against the lipstick stain it left there.

"Love you," she said, and stepped away, turning when he replied.

"Me too." An officer from the fifth district Nick had met years before during patrol held the elevator for her and she smiled a secret little smile at Nick and stepped on. Nick didn't miss the look from the officer at Nick and Adalind before the door closed.

He sighed and drifted back into the department, Hank on the phone with someone and Wu hovering nearby.

%%%%%%%%%

"So, let me get this straight," Hank said, breaking the silence. Nick had been dutifully taking some notes on his black notepad as they took in a crime scene. He looked up at Hank inquisitively. "You're basically having another kid with Adalind, you're moving, and you're getting married."

Nick furrowed his brow in annoyance, wondering what the hell that had to do with the murder they were supposed to be investigating.

"Yes."

"You're getting married?" Wu said, looking up from where he was trying to take a fingerprint off one of the victims. "Why am I always the last to know anything. When did this happen?"

"Last night."

"And you're moving?"

"Yeah, he bought a house, apparently, too."

Nick rolled his eyes and flipped his notepad shut.

"When did that happen?"

"Last night."

"Wow…this all happened in one night? Busy night," Wu remarked.

"Yeah. Lots of _talking_ going on." Hank said, and Nick narrowed his eyes.

"No, the thing with Diana's been in the works for almost a week now."

"You know what I mean."

"I guess."

"You can do things in half-measures, you know. It's all right. It doesn't have to be one extreme or another. Maybe see how it goes with Diana. A few months down the line, buy the house, or get married, and then buy the house a few months after that."

"I thought about doing it that way," Nick said.

"You change your mind?"

"Adalind did," Nick said. "I'm just along for the ride."

"Story of your life," Wu said.

"Story of your relationship," Hank said. "You realize, two years ago, you found out you fathered a baby with her, Juliette was a hexenbiest, and someone cut off your mom's head."

No, he supposed, he hadn't really realized it had only been two years since then. Like Kelly it seemed both like it had happened a lot longer and a lot sooner ago than that.

"And now, you're essentially having another kid, moving, and getting married."

"It's nice to see the pendulum swing the other way," Nick said.

"That wasn't the point I was trying to make," Hank said. "I was trying to say that maybe you don't have to do everything so intense and piled on another."

"At this point in my life? Honestly where's the fun in that? I'm going to get a child I have no idea how to parent, a house I can barely afford, and a wife…I barely know how to handle."

"Yeah, you already sound married."

Nick smiled wryly.

"So when are you getting married?" Wu asked.

"We haven't set a date. We literally just got engaged like fourteen hours ago, Wu."

"He hasn't even bought her a ring."

"You haven't bought her a ring?" Wu exclaimed.

"I never said I haven't bought her a ring," Nick said, turning to look at the room, his back to the guys so he wouldn't see Hank's look of surprise (too late) or Wu's expression of disbelief. "Just that I haven't given her one."

"Wow. You've been thinking about this for a while, haven't you?" Hank said, and Nick glanced back at the guys.

"A little bit."

"It's not Juliette's ring, is it?" Hank asked, and Nick flashed a dark look at him.

"No, it's not Juliette's ring."

"Just checking. They get mad when you do that."

Nick and Wu looked at Hank.

"What? Take it from me," Hank said, throwing up both hands to emphasize his point. Wu stared at him a moment longer and then looked away.

"What did you do with Juliette's ring?" Wu asked.

Nick opened his notepad again and scribbled a note.

"I…pawned it to put a down payment on Adalind's ring."

"Wow," Wu said.

"Okay," Hank said.

"What?"

"Nothing. That's cool."

"Sure. Right," Wu agreed.

"I'm not made of money, you know," Nick said.

"No, I completely understand. I'm still paying on ex-wives' rings three and four," and Nick and Wu looked at him.

"Maybe that will help deter any more hasty marital decisions," Nick remarked pointedly.

"Of course it will. I can't afford any more wives, much less rings," Hank retorted.

"So when are you going to give her the ring?"

"I don't know. We've got enough going on with Diana coming to live with us and moving."

"So…is Hank going to be best man? Or Monroe?" Wu asked, looking at Hank.

"He won't say," Hank said, and Nick looked up at the sky.

"Interesting," Wu said. "I would hope to merit an invitation at least," Wu remarked, and Nick rolled his eyes.

"You'll be the first to know when we figure something out," he said, underlining what he wrote in his notepad.

"We ready to head back?"

"Yeah," Hank said, giving Nick a look and Nick followed him back to the car, with one final glance at his notes.

 _Look into eloping._

%%%%%%%%%

Feedback lets me know if I'm on the wrong or write track. (get it?)

(poetry/slogan courtesy of a dusty English degree and yours truly)

(Yes, sometimes I only amuse myself.)

(But if I did amuse you, please take a moment and let me know.)


	12. Chapter 12

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He strode purposefully behind another Nameless, eyes focused on the back of his head, peripherally aware of the minimal activity around him. He had been forced to leave Adalind behind in the garage/tunnel he had parked his SUV in, not really a surprise, as Meisner had voice his opposition to having her accompany Nick to her daughter, something of a surprise to Nick, who thought given Meisner's apparent infatuation with Adalind that he would bend to her will.

She had not been happy, and he had left her pacing and glaring at a different Nameless as he walked away to collect her daughter. Meisner had better hold up his end of the deal, Nick thought, as there was no way he could go back empty-handed to Adalind again. He'd hate to have to be unfriendly.

He didn't have to move far through the compound before he came upon Diana, sitting in what appeared to be another interrogation type room. She sat in a chair against a wall, feet swinging, looking inquisitive.

"Hi!" she chirped.

"Hello again, you remember me?"

"Nick! Nick the Grimm," Diana said, a wide smile on her face.

"That's right, and you—you never told me your name, but I bet I can guess."

She smiled again and shook her head.

"I'm pretty good—I'm a detective you know," he said, and she shook her head again, but he could tell she was enjoying the game.

"Madeline?" he said, and she shook her head furiously.

"Annie?"

"No," she said, hopping off her chair and moving towards him.

"Diana?" he said, and she froze, looking at him stunned before her face erupted into a smile and she nodded her head. She was almost to him. Nick knelt down and she stopped a few inches from him. "Diana. That's a pretty name for a pretty girl," he said and her eyes glowed with that strange purple tint. He didn't know if it was the Wesen in her so close to the Grimm, an instinctive response, or because of her emotional response to the situation.

"Do you know why I'm here?" Nick asked, and her smile faltered a little, and she shook her head. Nick pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons on the screen. When he was done, Adalind's picture was on the screen, a photo he had taken a few months ago when he had been goofing off with her in the loft. She looked happy and carefree, a far cry from the pensive and anxious woman he had left by his SUV to come get her daughter.

He glanced at Diana, who looked at what he was doing curiously, the purple tint brightening and Nick noticed the image on the screen start to distort. He glanced at Diana, who, from her vantage point, could only see the back of the phone.

"Are you nervous?" he asked, and she looked up at him and after a moment nodded.

"Don't be nervous, okay? I'm going to show you something. This is a picture of my fiancé," he said, taking a measured breath. "Have you ever seen her before?"

He flipped the phone around to show her the picture and he watched as her eyes carefully took in the photo. The purple intensified and the lighting in the room began to flicker and buzz noisily. Nick glanced around him with concern, eyes falling back on the girl, who still beheld the image of her mother.

She gave a jerky nod, and Nick felt his eyebrows jump in surprise. She had been so young when she had been taken away from Adalind, only a couple of weeks old.

"You have?" he said in shock, wondering if perhaps Meisner had a picture of Adalind around somewhere. Diana moved closer to Nick, following his arm as he pulled the phone back to him and flicked the screen to display another picture. She leaned over his arm and watched as he flicked his finger across the screen.

"Do you know who she is?" he asked, and she gave another jerky nod, the purple fading a little as she viewed more pictures of Adalind.

"Mommy," she whispered, looking at Nick with an expression on her face he couldn't decipher.

"That's right. She's your mommy," he said. "She's—"

He stopped abruptly when the purple glowed brightly again, lights flickering and popping and then watched in amazement as pictures of Adalind on his phone ran through a slideshow she apparently initiated telekinetically. He watched as she flipped through them, sometimes backtracking to look at one again, sometimes skipping forward. She ran through the photo album, her eyes taking in photos he had of Monroe, Rosalee, Adalind, Kelly—

"That's my son," Nick said, but he wasn't sure if she heard him. Photos flipped by rapidly, so fast Nick wondered if she really saw them.

-Adalind, Adalind, Trubel—

He looked up in surprise at her startled gasp.

"Trubel," she exclaimed and Nick raised his eyebrow again. _Interesting._ She knew Trubel but supposedly Trubel didn't know her.

"That's right. Trubel is one of my friends. Is she one of your friends?" he asked her, curious as to what her answer would be.

She nodded emphatically and Nick looked up, away from her, digesting this piece of information.

"She's a good friend to have," Nick said, wondering a little bitterly if that was true. Trubel had known some information on Eve/Juliette after she had died when Nick had first demanded to know and hadn't said anything. He wondered if this was the case again now.

She flicked through the remaining dozen or so pictures, two more of Adalind before looking at Nick. Nick lingered on a picture of Adalind and Kelly, taken one day when they had been at the park, before looking at the little girl in front of him.

"Do you know why I'm here?" he asked her again, and she shook her head.

"I'm here—" he said, and then faltered, the task before him seeming monumental. "I'm here," he began again, "because your mommy has been looking for you for a long time, and she's here, waiting to see you and bring you home with her. Do you want me to take you to see your mommy?"

"Does she live with you?"

"She does," Nick said. "She does, and my son-" he pointed the photo of Kelly—"Kelly's his name—he does too, and we'd like for you to come live with us, also."

She looked at Nick for a moment, expression blank, and Nick wondered what she was thinking. "Would you like to come live with me and your mommy and your little brother?" She looked again at the picture on his phone, and he watched her scroll through the pictures again, ignoring the electrical disturbances she made.

"Here—" he said, pulling the phone back and clicking on another photo album. "Look at this," he said, holding his phone out to show her.

"You know what that is?" he asked and she gave him a look, not unlike the ones Adalind gave.

"A bed," she said in a _duh_ sort of tone.

"Yes, but whose bed? You think I sleep on a bed with that much glitter on it?" She smiled at him, apparently thinking that was funny. She leaned against him, and Nick wrapped his arm around her and held one end of the phone while his hand worked the screen.

"See that?" he pointed to a customized bureau with sparkly pink paint on it. "That's not my bureau," he said. "Purple's more my color," he added with a smile, and she returned it shyly, unable to hide her amusement. She shook her head in disbelief. She might look more like Renard, but her mannerisms were all Adalind, he could see now that he was interacting with her more.

"See—" he said, scrolling through a few more pictures of the den/study/now Diana's bedroom until they moved into their new home. " _That_ is your bedroom," he said, and he could tell that pleased her.

"Your mommy loves sparkles, too," he said, and she looked at him, and the pic, telekinetically flipping through them again, lights flickering wildly and buzzing before they popped and blew out.

Nick glanced around him, and then at Diana, eyes illuminated in the darkness with their strange paranormal tint, before they met Nick's eyes. She was still leaning against him, his arm still around her, both hands holding his phone.

"You like it?" he asked her, and she nodded again. "Only thing missing is a little girl who will love it," he said enticingly and she laughed, a sweet child-like eruption that made Nick smile.

"What do you say?" he asked. "You want to come live with us?"

She nodded emphatically again. "Yes."

"Good," Nick said with a smile. "We'll pack some of your things, and I'll take you to your mommy."

"Will my mommy like me?" she asked, sobering, eyes worried, and Nick stared at her a few seconds before he found his voice.

"She's going to love you."

%%%%%%%%%

"Wow, I didn't think you had so much stuff," Nick remarked, watching her gather her things. "So it starts early, huh?" he said and she gave him another one of Adalind's looks.

Perhaps he hadn't expected to have both hands full of her belongings, and her still carrying some. He guessed he had only expected to be carrying her, back to her mother, and he wondered what other sort of heroic nonsense he had envisioned with this scenario.

She grabbed the art box he had watched her pull the locket from, and a doll, which she tucked under an arm, before coming to stand beside Nick. Her eyes glowed again, and Nick detected something behind him and turned to find Eve staring at Diana.

"You have everything?" she asked her, and Diana nodded. Nick glanced between the two females, watching their interaction closely. He recalled Diana's startled gasp when Eve had come upon them the last time he was here, and he was curious if it was due to surprise or fear, but he didn't detect fear now. He wondered how well Diana knew Eve, what of Eve she knew.

"We're ready," Nick said shortly, and Eve transferred her gaze to him, eyes burning into him as they searched his face for something.

"If you would get out of the way," he said, and she moved out of the door after another long moment of searching. He breathed a silent sigh of relief, aware that Diana was doing some observing of her own, and Nick said to her, "Let's go."

She followed him out the doorway, and Nick felt her small hand grab onto his wrist and he swallowed thickly, overwhelmed by the show of trust in him. Hoped he could maintain it. They traveled through the complex in silence, the hallways empty until just before Nick reached the garage, and where within it Adalind waited impatiently to be reunited with her daughter.

Meisner stood before him and Nick slowed as Diana disengaged from him and ran to Meisner. He hefted her up with a smile, and Nick saw how her face transformed with excitement and affection.

He had been the one constant in her life, he supposed, though not much had been constant. He hoped what he and Adalind were undertaking with her would change that, but he didn't know.

"Would you give me a minute?" Meisner asked him, and Nick nodded after a second.

"Sure, let me just put this in the car," and Meisner nodded gratefully. "I'll be back in a minute, Diana," he said and she nodded, too.

He made a motion for the door and Eve released the lock and popped it open. He muttered a thanks and brushed by her to the garage. Adalind was pacing in front of his Land Cruiser and he gave her a reassuring smile as he walked by.

"What are you doing? Where's Diana?" she said, hurrying after him.

"Saying goodbye to Meisner," he said, opening the tailgate.

"What's all that?" Adalind asked, looking at the stuff he carried,

"Diana's stuff," he said, setting it in the cargo hold and shutting the gate. "You okay?" he asked her, and she nodded, biting her lip.

"This is really happening," she said, disbelievingly.

"Yeah," he said, and kissed her forehead. "I think she's excited to see you and come live with us."

"Really?" Adalind whispered. "She—she remembered me?"

"Yup, knew you right off," he said.

Some tears spilled over her cheeks, and Nick pulled her close to him, felt her arms tighten around him.

"Oh my god, Nick, this is really happening," she said again.

"Yes," he said again, pulling away, and running his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping the moisture away. He kissed her again and then pulled back as he sensed a presence behind him. _Eve_ he thought in annoyance and almost smirked when he discovered he was right.

"She's ready," Eve said with the same blank look she gave most everything, but Nick thought her glance lingered on Adalind for a beat too long, and Nick nodded, and looked back at Adalind, who took a deep breath and tried to get herself back under control. Nick stepped away from Adalind and she followed hesitantly behind him as he strode back to the door.

Diana appeared and he heard Adalind gasp behind him, stopped when he heard her sharp intake of "oh my god," and glanced at her in concern. Diana seemed frozen in the doorway, and Nick hefted her up into his arms after a minute of indecision, her small limbs brushing over his shoulders. Diana and Adalind stared at each other in shock, before Adalind began moving, slowly at first, as though remembering how, and then much faster.

"My baby," she said, holding her arms out for her daughter and Nick handed her over, relieved when Diana's arms shot out for her mother as well.

"Mommy!" she said, and Nick watched tears leak out of Adalind eyes as she held her daughter for the first time in what had to be almost three years.

"My baby, my baby."

%%%%%%%%%%

Adalind was still holding her in her lap as Nick drove back home to the loft. He had almost pointed out it was illegal and not to mention dangerous for a child to not be belted in her seat, much less sitting on an adult, but one glance at Adalind and Diana and the words died in his throat.

He was also contemplating the fact that he was probably going to be the one to call Renard and let him know he wouldn't be seeing his daughter tonight. Already knew that Adalind was not going to let her go so soon after having her in her arms again, and was starting to privately agree with Adalind's earlier claim that it would be too much for the little girl. Definitely too much for Adalind. Either way, he wasn't looking forward to that conversation.

Instead he made sure to be extra cautious driving and hoped they wouldn't get pulled over by any of his fellow cops, and fortunately he made it back to the loft without any trouble.

"Home sweet home," he said when he had parked and shut off the engine. The garage door finished its noisy travel down the track and Nick looked at Adalind and Diana, curled against her mother. He smiled encouragingly when they both met his eyes and Nick exited the vehicle and began grabbing Diana's things from the back.

He caught Diana looking around the warehouse, eyes traveling over the space, before drifting slowly after Adalind who was waiting to grab some things from Nick.

"You guys can go on up, you don't have to wait on me," Nick said.

"No, we can each get something and then we can go up together," Adalind said, smiling brightly at Diana, and Nick wondered if she was nervous that she didn't want to be alone just yet, trying to find safe, bland topics of conversation with a six year-old she knew so little about.

Nick handed Diana her doll she had taken, and Adalind one of her bags of clothes, and a backpack and he grabbed the rest and followed. He juggled the items as he tried to free up a hand to throw up the elevator gate and he and Adalind glanced behind them in surprise when it slid up on its own to find Diana grinning, purple irises glowing. Adalind stared at her for a moment before smiling, albeit a little crookedly, too, and Nick caught her eye as they all got on the elevator.

"Thank you," Nick said, and watched as she telekinetically shut it as well. _That was going to take some getting used to,_ he thought, and then thought about how they would need to make Diana understand what behavior was appropriate out in public so that nothing happened to her. Or to others.

They stepped out into the loft and Nick watched Diana drift around the space, eyes looking at everything with a child-like wonder. Adalind watched her too, hovering a few paces behind her daughter, catching Nick's eye again as she followed Diana slowly around the room.

She approached the dining table, half of it still covered with Adalind's legal briefs and other assorted documents and Diana peered closely at them.

"Those are mine—my work—"Adalind said hesitantly. "I am a lawyer, but I'm going to taking some time off to spend with you," she said, smiling and kneeling down to Diana's height. Diana looked at her silently, and drifted over to the bookshelves, looking at the books lined up.

"Do you like to read?" Adalind asked her, noticing her interest, and Diana nodded after a moment, still looking at the shelves and the books and the framed photos there.

"I like to read too. So does Nick," Adalind said, and Diana glanced at him before turning her attention back to the photo frames. "Bedtime maybe we can all share in a story," Adalind said but Diana was focused on the pictures and Nick realized she was looking at the photos of Kelly, Adalind, and him, specifically, not of his friends.

"I never got to take any pictures of you," Adalind remarked, a hitch to her voice, noticing her interest too. Diana turned to face her. "You were taken from me before—" and Adalind stopped for a moment to get her emotions under control. "—Before I got the chance, but we'll get some together now, won't we?" she said, affecting a bright expression and smile at Diana.

Diana nodded again after a moment, and Nick realized she had not said anything since before the car ride. He wondered at her reticence, if she was overwhelmed, shy, or just taking it all in. She moved over to Kelly's toys, stacked against the stairwell that led to her room and the roof, running her fingers over some of them.

"Those are Kelly's," Adalind explained. "Did you know you were a big sister?" Adalind asked her, affecting an excited tone. Diana looked back at the toys, pulling some out to investigate closer, before moving away and drifting back towards Adalind.

"You have a little brother, he's going to be two in a few months," she said, "just like you're going to be…have…another birthday yourself in a couple of months. Technically, you'll be three, but…I guess…" she trailed off looking at her daughter in confusion. "Hmm…we're going to have to figure that out. Huh. Well, anyway, we'll have nice celebration," Adalind said.

Yes, how were they going to figure that out, much less explain her rapid aging. From what he understood in his conversations with Adalind and Rosalee she would continue to age at a much faster pace than normal until she reached adulthood, when it would become less obvious. It would be nice if there was a formula, Nick thought, some way to figure out how quickly she would age, but the reality was in a few years they would have a teenager, given what he had calculated with what little he knew.

Try to explain that.

He half listened to Adalind taking Diana around the loft, wondering how they would integrate her in society when she was so plainly different. Having friends would be difficult. She would outgrow them quickly and literally. She would be difficult to explain to most of their coworkers, too, he thought. One year a prepubescent child, and the next in her mid-to-late teen years, and an adult after that. That would mean making sure she had limited contact with people who couldn't understand the reasoning why.

"This is mommy and dad—uh, Nick's—uh—our room, so if you need anything we're close by, and that's Kelly's," she said, watching Diana take a few steps into the room. "…and do you want to see your room?" Adalind asked her with an eager grin, and Diana finished circling Adalind's and Nick's bedroom and came to stand before her mother.

She was still just a child, Nick saw, despite her extraordinariness. She ran her arms up her sides bashfully and nodded her head.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said in a small voice.

"Okay, come on," Adalind said, raising her eyebrows in anticipation and Adalind held out her hand for Diana when she reached the stairs. Nick followed behind, and given the location of the guest room, he was in agreement with Adalind that it wasn't right for Diana. She was too exposed here, he thought. Too much risk, what with the roof access just to the side. He would have Diana stay with Adalind in their room and he would take the guest room. It would be safer and Diana wouldn't be so alone in a new place.

"Ta-da!" he heard Adalind exclaim, bringing him back to the present, and Diana stepped hesitantly into the small space, eyes going over the single bed and the comforter with shiny sequined flowers on it, the bureau Nick had shown her a picture of, that he and Monroe had spray painted the night before with a glittery pink paint. A furry bright pink child's chair, a child's easel and stool, and a large dollhouse in the corner that Diana spotted with a joyful gasp and ran to.

Adalind smiled, pleased, as she watched Diana excitedly begin to tear into it, and Adalind knelt down beside her and said, "Here, you unclasp this latch here and it opens up." She demonstrated and Diana grinned widely, fingers tracing the doll furniture, picking up pieces and examining them closely.

"I used to have one of these when I was little," Adalind said. "I could spend hours playing with it," she added. Diana discovered the dolls Adalind had purchased from somewhere and excitedly moved them through the house. She gave one to Adalind, who looked very pleased.

"You want me to play, too?" she asked, and Diana nodded again, and Adalind glanced at Nick with such an expression of pure joy that he found himself smiling at her too.

"I'm going to leave you ladies to it and go pick up Kelly," Nick said, "We can head to Renard's—"

"No," Adalind said, cutting him off.

"Adalind," Nick said, and she stood up from Diana and approached him with a determined set to her jaw.

"No, Nick. She's staying here. This is my first night with my daughter. We're going to spend it at home, as a family. He can see her after the weekend," Adalind said quietly, and Diana glanced between them curiously. Adalind flashed a reassuring smile at her and glanced at Nick. "It's too much," she said in a no-nonsense tone.

"He's going to call wondering where we are, Adalind."

"So, I'll tell him. No, I finally have both my children under one roof and we are going to spend this weekend together as a family."

It was pointless to argue with her. He gave a nod of acquiescence.

"I'll be back soon," he said, and Adalind nodded and turned back to Diana who was still watching them.

%%%%%%%%

He checked his phone and found five missed messages. One was from Hank with a note about the case they had been working before Nick left to get Diana, with a comment he was waiting for further information from Wu. The second one was from Wu with the requested information. The third from Monroe, wishing him luck with Diana and Adalind, and the last two were from Renard, who sounded agitated in the first, and pissed off in the second.

 _"Nick, Adalind's not picking up her phone, is everything all right?"_

 _"Nick, Adalind's still not picking up. Is everything okay? Do you have Diana? Call me."_

Yeah, he was in no rush to make that phone call. He remembered now that Adalind had turned off her phone in the SUV prior to getting to the Wall, wanting no distractions from work as she reunited with her daughter. Obviously she had forgotten to turn it back on, which left Renard to follow up with Nick on his daughter's status and whereabouts.

He would undoubtedly be wondering when Nick and Adalind were going to stop by with his daughter. Nick wondered if he could convince Adalind to take a drive out there with Diana. Didn't have much hope. Thought privately Diana was having enough to take in with being reunited with her mother and the family associated with that. Kelly would be the next introduction she would have to wrap her head around and Nick thought that might be enough for one night for one small child.

He was wishing they had told Renard to give them the weekend, and had an uncomfortable feeling he was going to be the unfortunate soul who would have to relay that request. He did not anticipate it being well-received.

He parked along the curb outside of Monroe and Rosalee's place still mulling over the unpleasant realities of being the messenger and third wheel in this scenario and glanced up when Rosalee opened the front door and Kelly came charging as fast as his nearly-toddler legs would carry him. Nick exited and met him halfway. He hefted him up in his arms, smiling at his son's expression, so happy to be with his dad, and Rosalee smiled at the two of them, before stepping back and allowing Nick to enter.

"Hey Rosalee," Nick said. "How was he today?"

"Like an angel, as always," she said, and Nick looked at his son disbelievingly, Kelly only grinning wider, before trying to tell him something. Nick listened to the slightly disjointed chatter, glancing at Rosalee as he worked to understand what his son was trying to say, before realizing it had something to do with Monroe ("Mo-mo") and his car, which could only mean his police car.

"Your car?" he asked, looking around for it. He set Kelly down, glancing at Rosalee again, who raised her eyebrows and hid a smile.

"Why don't you show daddy your car?" she told Kelly and he ran to get it. Nick knelt down to look at where Kelly seemed to be trying to indicate something on his police car.

"Why don't you press the button and show daddy what it does?" she prodded Kelly and Nick realized she was referring to the switch that made it light up and emitted a siren sound, that Kelly had broken beyond all repair months ago.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise when Kelly depressed the button and it sounded and flashed.

"Wow," Nick said impressed.

"Mo-mo ficced it," Kelly said.

"Yes, Mo-mo fixed it, didn't he?" Rosalee agreed.

"Wow, where is Mo-mo?" Nick asked.

"Out in the garage. He should be back in here in a moment. How are you? How are things?" Rosalee asked him, and Nick bobbed his head.

"Good. Good," he said. "It seems like it's going well, I think."

"How's Adalind?"

"Better now, I think. It was a little awkward at first, but it seems like she's feeling more confident about it. Everything. They were playing with the dollhouse when I left," he added, and Rosalee looked wistful and happy.

"Good. It's so much to take in," she said, and Nick wasn't sure if she was referring to Diana, Adalind, or maybe even Nick who still felt a little off an even keel.

"Yeah," he agreed and looked up when he heard the back door slam and Monroe plodding across the wood floor.

"Nick! Hey buddy, how's it going with Diana and Adalind? Everything okay?"

"Seems to be," Nick said with a flash of a smile before turning back to Kelly who was demanding his attention again.

"I see Kelly has shown you our achievement this afternoon."

"Yup, he was quite thrilled, I can see," Nick said smiling at his son who moved away from him. "You know it will be broken again within a week, right?" Nick asked him.

Monroe nodded. "We'll…just…do it again, won't we Kelly? You heading to Renard's after this?"

"Um, no, I don't think so."

"He change his mind?"

"No, Adalind did."

"Oh. Well, Nick, you can't really blame her. I can't imagine how she feels to finally have Diana back with her," Rosalee said.

"No, no, I get that, it's just…"

"…Just?"

"I mean, he's the father of Diana and my captain. She's—"

"Yeah, I get it," Monroe interrupted. "Gotta say, don't envy you and your complicated relationships."

"Thanks."

"Yeah, Nick, I can understand how tough a situation you're being put in the middle of," Rosalee said.

"Yeah, your boss and your girlfriend. Pick a side and if it's the wrong one…"

"Yeah, no matter which side I pick it's going to be the wrong one. And it's fiancé. Come on Kelly, say bye to Mo-mo and Rosalee."

"No," he began to whine.

"You're sure? Mommy has a big surprise for you at home."

"Wait a second—did you say fiancé?" Rosalee interrupted.

"Yeah," Nick said, picking up Kelly.

"Isth cate?"

"No, it's not cake," Nick said.

"Fiancé? You asked her to marry you?" Monroe said.

"Kind of."

"Kind of? When was this?"

"Last night, right before we bought the house."

"The house? What? Wait. You bought a house?" Rosalee said, hands rising above her head in a _slow down, wait a minute_ gesture.

"Yup. Moving soon. Bye guys, thanks for looking after Kelly. Kelly say bye-bye!"

"Wait, Nick!"

"Hold on a second."

"Bye-bye."

%%%%%%%

His phone rang while he was driving back to the loft, Kelly exhausted from a busy day of resuscitating his toy and contemplating the massive (cakeless) surprise. He snoozed soundly in his car seat, oblivious to the churn in Nick's thoughts. He grimaced when he read the display, and debated on sending it to voicemail.

"Burkhardt," he said, managing to keep most of the sigh out of his voice.

"Nick? Where's Adalind? Did everything go okay with Diana? Are you on your way here?"

 _Not exactly…_

"Um, everything…went okay. Adalind's at home at the loft. Diana's with her."

There was a moment of silence, long enough Nick could imagine Renard's taken-aback expression; the consternation that followed.

"Where are you?"

"I'm just picking up Kelly from Monroe and Rosalee's."

"And then you'll be on your way over?"

 _Not exactly._

"Uh, I'm not sure," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"I think it's been kind of a lot for everyone to take in," Nick said.

"You mean Adalind. Adalind thinks it's a lot," Renard said flatly, and Nick suppressed another sigh.

"No, I mean, Diana has had a lot to take in, it's a lot on everybody—"

"I want to see my daughter, Nick."

"You'll see her," Nick promised. "Just give it the weekend," he said, and cringed a little at the sound Renard made of frustrated disgust.

"You can't keep me from her, Nick," Renard said coldly. "She's _my_ daughter."

"I know that. I'm not. Just give it the weekend, let her get settled in a bit. Adalind will bring her by in a couple of days."

"I know what you're doing," Renard said, and hung up.

 _Great, can you clue me in?_ Nick thought and sighed. He glanced in the rearview at his son, still lost in dreamland.

%%%%%%%%

AN: Hit the comment button below and let me know what you think.


	13. Chapter 13

AN: That last episode guys. Hm. I'm not sure I like what they're setting up.

%%%%%%%%

Saturday passed in a blur. Kelly appeared to be utterly fascinated by his new sibling; Diana, less so, but she still appeared to be somewhat taken with her new little brother. Of course, even the adults were fascinated by Diana, her powers extraordinary and so obviously absolutely magical to an almost two-year-old.

Diana seemed to delight in the pleasure Kelly got from seeing her move or levitate his toys, and their laughter was infectious. Adalind seemed particularly pleased they were getting along so well, and Nick breathed a sigh of relief that Diana didn't appear to be jealous of sharing their mother's affection. As Kelly had had cake on the brain since Nick told him about the surprise at home, Adalind decided to celebrate Diana's homecoming by baking, and the resulting chocolate confection mostly turned out.

By Sunday Diana and Kelly had started to feel each other out, apparently having noticed that they were now having to share in their parent's attention, which Kelly-naturally having been the only child in the household prior, and used to having sole claim on his mom and dad's time-started to have issues with no longer being the primary focus, and Nick had the awful feeling the honeymoon period was about to come to an abrupt end.

The resulting tantrum Kelly threw when Nick reprimanded him for throwing Diana's doll seemed to confirm that. Diana looked like she might be contemplating a different opinion on Kelly as well.

Monday came and Nick managed to get out of the loft before seeing any further fits of temper between either child, but Adalind looked a tad concerned at the change in atmosphere.

"Nick, hey, we got a body at the dump," Hank greeted him, and Nick slowed his approach to his desk and then turned and started to follow Hank back out of the department.

"Nick!" and he stopped again and looked back at Renard, who was standing in the doorway of his office. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Hank glanced at Nick and Nick turned slowly towards the captain, knowing exactly what topic was on Renard's mind.

"Hank and I got a body," Nick said, hoping that it might at least delay the conversation until after they got back from the crime scene.

"It will only take a few minutes," Renard said, and Nick wasn't sure whether the supposed brevity of the conversation was a good thing or not.

"I'll meet you down at the car," Hank said, and Nick nodded. He strode into Renard's office, Renard shutting the door behind him, and Nick turned and looked at the captain expectantly.

"How's Diana?" Renard asked.

"She's…good," Nick said. "Seems a little…overwhelmed I guess by everything, but she seems happy," Nick said. "She's still adjusting to everyone," he added, thinking of Kelly.

"That's good. You'll be bringing her by tonight, right?" Renard said, and Nick shifted, somewhat annoyed.

"Adalind mentioned she was going to bring her over at six, I think. I'll probably still be tied up here. I've got a backlog of reports to catch up on," he added, thinking of the last few weeks he had spent ferrying Kelly back and forth to daycare, making sure he was out of the office in time to pick up his son, at times leaving in the middle of investigations or follow up.

Also, he wasn't keen on furthering the impression Renard seemed to have of Nick being in the middle of him and Diana. Thought it might do everyone some good if he wasn't there when Diana reunited with her father. He had mentioned to Adalind he was behind at work and that he could stay late and get caught up and take care of Kelly later on so she could focus on Diana and her meeting with Renard. She had seemed dubious about that plan, but she hadn't said anything, and Nick had left before she could formulate an alternative.

"Ah, good," Renard said, and he seemed relieved, too. "Well, then if you speak with her, tell her I'll see her then."

"Right," Nick said, pointing to the door.

"Yeah, go ahead," Renard said, moving to sit behind his desk, and Nick gave a nod and hurried out the door to meet up with Hank.

%%%%%%%%%

"Hi Nick!"

Before he could even place the owner of the voice, Diana had flounced up beside him, climbing on the base of his desk chair and leaning over the armrest to see what he was doing. He quickly minimized the victim's autopsy photos and glanced at Diana, who was smiling enthusiastically at him, and then Kelly, who hurried around to the other side of Nick's chair to try and claim his half of Nick's attention, refusing to be outdone by the new guy, or girl, as it were.

"Hi," Nick said after a moment where he swallowed his surprise, leaning back carefully, Kelly still struggling to mimic his sister. He looked up from Diana to see Adalind bringing up the rear, looking frazzled and tired, and Nick raised an eyebrow in question.

"The kids wanted to see you," she said by way of explanation, which really didn't explain anything at all in Nick's opinion but he didn't have time to dwell on it.

"What are those?" Diana asked him, pointing to some photos haphazardly falling out of a folder. He hurriedly leaned forward and stuffed them back inside, dislodging Kelly from his shaky perch, who tumbled to the floor and began crying. Loudly.

Nick glanced around him, but it was already going on half past five and a fair portion of the department had left for the day.

"Hey, buddy, I'm sorry," and Kelly only wailed louder in defiance. Diana stepped down off his chair, and Nick leaned down to pick Kelly up, looking him over carefully.

"He's okay," Diana said, and Nick glanced at her again before turning back to his son. After a careful inspection he couldn't find anything obvious and determined his son was, indeed, okay, and that this performance was mostly for show and sympathy. He looked sharply at Adalind, who usually was far more involved and giving of the sympathy when it concerned Kelly, but she was staring at Renard's darkened office pensively.

"He headed out an hour ago," Nick said. "I think he's anxious to see you," he told Adalind, and she nodded after a moment, her eyes returning to Nick's. She looked at Diana, who was creeping along the edge of Nick's desk, looking at all the contents lying on top of it. Nick looked at her as well, noticing two sparkly barrettes in her hair, pink sweater, jeans, and sparkly shoes. Obviously they had gone shopping sometime during the day.

"I figured," Adalind said.

"That's mommy," Diana said, pointing at a small framed photo on the back corner of Nick's desk. "And Kelly," she said, and then moved the photo in question to her hand telekinetically. Nick ducked forward frantically, arm reflexively keeping hold of Kelly before he was dumped off Nick's lap as he did so, and Adalind did the same, startling Diana. She dropped the frame and it landed with a clatter on Nick's keyboard before sliding off that onto the floor. Nick surreptitiously glanced around him, trying to determine if anyone had seen what Diana had done.

"Sorry," Diana said somewhat timidly, looking at it and then Nick and Adalind, her eyes ringed by an electric purple.

"It's okay," Nick said, looking down at the broken frame when he determined it didn't appear that anyone had noticed anything spectacular.

"It's fine," Adalind assured, "just remember what we talked about this morning, sweetheart?" she said and Diana looked at her and Nick one more time before looking away and nodding. Nick glanced at Adalind questioningly.

"This morning?" he prompted.

"I'm Wesen and I'm not supposed to use my powers where there's Kehrseites," Diana mumbled. "Like my other mommy and Meisner taught me," and Nick raised his eyebrow. _Other mommy?—_ and then realized Diana was referring to Nick's mother. He swallowed, getting his emotions under control, and nodded, eyes searching Adalind's, but hers remained focused on her daughter.

"Right," Adalind's said. "But you can be you when you're home with us, just not out where someone who didn't know you could hurt you. We don't want anything to happen to you."

Nick bent down and picked up the frame, Kelly sliding off his lap, and Nick held Kelly away from the glass as he picked up the pieces and tossed them in his trash. He grabbed the frame, the picture of Adalind holding a one-year-old Kelly seeming more vibrant without the glass dulling it and set it back on his desk.

"See, it's fine," Nick said, "You don't have to worry."

"Are you going to have a photo of me?" Diana asked him, still edging along his desk, eyes blue and vulnerable, and Nick swallowed again, not sure how to answer. Was it wise to have photographic evidence of a child that was so in demand by all the wrong people and all the wrong reasons? Why give them a direction to point their attention to?

"Sure," he said though. "I need to update with a new picture anyway. Kelly's just a baby in this one."

"He's a baby now," Diana said, eyes narrowing at Kelly, who seemed to take the barb for what it was. His brow crinkled, and he held his arms out for Nick to pick him up again and Nick complied, wondering at the brewing animosity.

"Maybe we can get one with all three of us," Adalind said, "for daddy's desk," she added looking at Nick, and he nodded, slightly uncomfortable with being referred to as such for Diana. He was still unsure of his role with her. She already had a father, but Adalind seemed quite intent on eradicating that aspect of her history and writing a new one with Nick.

Not to mention what Renard might feel or do if Diana ever referred to Nick by anything other than his given name.

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Adalind said to Diana, who was still looking at Nick. He plastered on a reassuring smile and hoped she didn't think any perceived discomfort was about her. She nodded after a moment, looking at the rest of the items on Nick's desk, the folder that had captured her attention before Nick had stuffed any enticements back under wraps. She finished trailing along the edge and then turned back to Nick. She climbed back up along the side of his chair, opposite of earlier since Kelly was now occupying that side, and leaned over the armrest half into his lap.

Clearly she wasn't experiencing any discomfort or confusion about where _she_ stood. He schooled the surprise on his face, eyes flicking to Adalind who was watching their interaction closely, meeting her gaze over the top of Kelly's head, who had turned to take note of his sister's reappearance at his side. He shoved at her, and Nick frowned at his son.

"Kelly," he said warningly, as did Adalind. Diana narrowed her eyes further and slung a leg over the armrest and began to climb into Nick's lap, which served to agitate Kelly more. Diana shifted, balancing jerkily on the edge of the chair, and Nick wrapped his other arm around her and pulled both children tighter against him.

"Behave, both of you," Nick said, the comment flying out of his mouth reflexively.

For six whole minutes there was détente among the Schade children. It would have been the perfect time to capture the moment of peace with the photo Adalind had been looking for replace the one on Nick's desk. Her son and daughter on Nick's lap, held in his arms. Unfortunately, it came and went unappreciated by Nick or Adalind, who moved on to a cryptic conversation about Adalind and Diana's impending visit with Renard.

"You still meeting Renard at six?" Nick asked her, and she frowned and nodded.

"Don't you think it's still too much too soon?"

"Doesn't matter what I think, it's what you both agreed to and you've already put him off once," and Adalind looked away.

"It does matter," she said stubbornly.

"Then no, I don't, since every time there's some delay or change I'm the first person he gets annoyed at, so I think you should keep to the schedule and be, at the very least, on time," and Adalind caught his eye again.

"What?"

"You heard me," Nick said. "You can leave Kelly here with me and I'll take him home when I finish here."

"You don't want to come with me?" she asked him, and Nick shook his head.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Besides, I have some things to finish up here."

"Why is it not a good idea?"

"Adalind, you _know_ why. He doesn't need or want me there, at least this first visit." _And probably any others._

"No, but I do," she retorted. Nick said nothing, just glanced down at Kelly and Diana, Kelly tracing his finger along the stitching pattern in Diana's sweater. He kicked his foot out, banging his heel against Nick's leg as he swung it back, and then wriggled off Nick's lap and began to annoy Diana in earnest. A moment later, Diana slid off as well, and she began to return the favor, looking like she'd love the opportunity for Nick or Adalind to turn their attention away for a moment so she could really put him in his place. She moved away from Nick—and Kelly—and began to explore the department, hovering around the clusters of desks before moving on to the perimeter of the room. Kelly followed, always eager to explore the police department, and she tolerated his presence and even cast some interest when he stopped to investigate or show her something.

"You'll be fine, and remember this is for Diana. She deserves to know who her father is, and Renard deserves the chance to get to know his daughter. He loves her, too, you know, despite what you may believe."

Adalind looked away.

"I suppose I better head out if I want to make Renard's by six," Adalind said with a sigh and turned to her children. "Diana," she called out, and Diana and Kelly looked at her from over by the copier. They both drifted back over to their mother, and Nick grabbed a hold of Kelly and pulled him back onto his lap, arm wrapped around his son securely.

"Hey, buddy, you get to stay with me," Nick said, and Diana looked at him inquisitively before glancing back at her mother.

"Where are we going?" Diana asked, skipping the last few steps to her mother.

"Remember what we talked about this afternoon? We are going to go meet your dad," Adalind told her. "He's very anxious to see you. He hasn't seen you in a long, long time, either."

"Are Nick and Kelly coming with us?"

"No, we'll see you when you get home," Nick said. "Us guys are going to hang together," he added patting Kelly's stomach. Kelly began to squirm and make frustrated noises as Nick held him still while Adalind and Diana headed out of the department. Diana looked back and gave him a small wave goodbye, and Kelly began to shriek.

"Mama!" and Adalind paused, a pained expression on her face and looked back at Kelly and Nick shook his head at her. She frowned and kept moving and as she moved out of sight Kelly unraveled.

"Mama!" He cried, and wriggled in frustration out of Nick's grasp to the floor to follow, but Adalind and Diana had already disappeared into the elevator. He slumped to the floor in the corridor and began to wail loudly, hot tears falling down his cheeks, apparently thinking his mother had deserted him, and worse still left him Nick who, after weeks of being primarily cared for by his father, had determined he had been getting the shaft in that aspect.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's not so bad. She'll be back," Nick said, crouching down beside him. "I'm here, nobody's left you."

Obviously that was no consolation, as Kelly kept bawling, louder, if possible. Nick sighed and picked him up, patting his back and making soothing noises. He smiled apologetically at the other uniforms who glanced at the source of the noise. He walked back to his desk and shut off his computer. There was no point in trying to stay and disrupting anyone else, and he doubted that even if he calmed down, Kelly would be cooperative anyway. He grabbed his coat and keys and headed out, Kelly still carrying on all the way to the car.

%%%%%%%%%

He realized he had put too much thought and concern in how Diana would handle such an abrupt change in her life and not enough in how Kelly would. Diana's life, perhaps, could best be categorized as a series of abrupt changes. Maybe he hadn't given her enough credit; she was highly adaptable. In her short life she had had to endure many devastating changes; losing Adalind, losing Kelly—Nick's mother—and then being handed over to the royals only to be retaken and shuffled around by the resistance. Whereas, what significant change had Kelly had to deal with? He had lived a sheltered and well-protected life. Nick hadn't realized what a huge transition it would be for him, to no longer be the only child, the sole focus of either of his parents, and now having to share attention with another child.

He supposed he had assumed Kelly would be happy to have another child, a playmate, in the family, and would just roll with the changes, but now he saw how foolish an assumption that had been. Kelly felt like he was being pushed aside for this new sibling, saw his mother's focus shifting—maybe even both parents'—and it would probably result in some resentment, though he felt Kelly would adapt eventually and come to accept and love Diana. He was generally a content and happy child, something Nick and Adalind both had taken great pains to protect.

There had not been time to help Kelly transition, warm up and get used to the idea of another sibling, like there might have been had Adalind become pregnant again, and they had months to all adjust to the coming change.

"Come on, Kell," Nick said after he threw up the gate, and Kelly followed Nick into the loft, still sniffling, clutching George, his beloved stuffed Giraffe, to him, looking like a man without a country.

Nick watched his son make a dramatic flop onto the shag rug in the living area, George tucked beside him. Nick shook his head, privately thinking that while he supposedly may look like Nick, his personality was ninety percent Adalind.

Nick turned to the fridge, and began to search for something for them to eat.

%%%%%%%%

Nick looked up from the story he was trying to read to Kelly, one of the famed Grimm fairy-tales, although the watered down Disney version. Nick had had a hard time trying to swallow some colorful commentary as he read the story of Hensel and Gretel to Kelly, wondering at Adalind's choice in literature. Was she trying to be cheeky? Educate her son on Wesen in a subtle way? And as the Grimm was generally the bad (or good, he supposed) guy in the stories, he wondered what she was trying to say with that.

He also wondered what it said that that was the book Kelly had wanted Nick to read to him. The Grimm in him naturally fascinated by it? Maybe he was reading too much into it.

The gate slid down and Diana skipped over to them, a huge grin on her face, and Nick surmised from her expression that the meet with Renard had gone well. She plopped down on the arm of the sofa right next to him and Kelly, rousing Kelly from his sleepy stupor.

"Hey, you're home," Nick said to Adalind, who followed at a more sedate pace, looking contemplative. "How'd it go?" he asked and Diana answered.

"You work with my daddy?" she said, looking at him with her blue eyes.

"Yes, he's my boss," Nick answered her. "You remember him?"

Diana nodded, eyes purpling a little. "Really?" Nick asked, and she nodded again. "You were just a few weeks old when you last saw him."

"I know," she said, and Nick stared at her before looking at Adalind. She sat in the armchair to the left of him and looked at the book in his lap, mouth curling in a mischievous grin before she could stop it. Facetiousness, then, Nick determined, had been her motivating factor for purchasing the book as reading material for their young son. He shook his head, both at her and her daughter's impudence, and picked up the book again.

"What are you reading?" Diana asked him, leaning over to look, pressing against his shoulder.

"A story for Kelly," Nick said, and glanced up at her.

"Did you have a good time at Re-the captain's?" Nick asked her, since Adalind had yet to volunteer any information.

"Yeah, I liked him," she said. "Both of my daddies are nice," she said, and Nick wrinkled his brow in confusion. _Both?_ He looked at Adalind for clarification and swallowed he when suddenly realized what her expression meant.

Him. He was the other daddy. Okay. Well. Right, Renard would be thrilled to share the privilege with him, he was sure.

Well, he already had a child to parent, so what was one more?

And no, that little flutter in his chest was not flattery.

"Hensel and Gretel," Diana read off the page, and she slid down along the arm of the sofa and crowded in against him, and although Kelly wrinkled his brow at her, he didn't articulate any other displeasure and Nick glanced a bit self-consciously at Adalind before resuming where he had left off.

When he had finished both children were asleep or nearly asleep. Adalind picked up Kelly, and Nick picked up Diana, her arms wrapping around his neck, cheek pressed against his shoulder. Yes, there were worse things than earning the admiration of a little girl, he supposed.

He watched Adalind press a kiss against Kelly's cheek and then lay him gently on his crib mattress.

"You need to get in your PJs baby girl," she murmured to a sleepy Diana, who whined something in response. "Lay her down on the bed and I'll get them from her room," Adalind told Nick, and he did as directed, setting Diana gently on his and Adalind's bed, and then he followed Adalind back to the converted guest room, where he had been staying the last few nights as Diana got acclimated to life among her newfound family.

Adalind was taking a pair of PJs off the top of the bureau, pulling retail tags off the sleeve when Nick joined her.

"So everything went okay at Renard's?" Nick asked. "You've been kind of quiet since you got back."

His eyebrows jumped in surprise when Adalind kissed him, mouth warm and soft against his for a long moment before she pulled back.

"Okay," Nick said. "So is that good, then?" he asked and then Adalind was pressed against him again, mouth more insistent.

"Okay," he said again when they broke apart. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but what is that for?"

"You," she said.

"Well…thank you, but what exactly did I do?"

"Nothing…just you being you," she replied. "All handsome, and sweet, and paternal," she said.

"Ah," he said, smirking. "I think I see where you're going with this."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Adalind, I don't think Renard's going to be thrilled to share the daddy title with me and his daughter," he said, and Adalind's expression changed to one of annoyance.

"I told you, I don't care what he thinks."

"Yes, but I do. I work with him, Adalind. It's complicated enough with everything. He's my captain, I'm his subordinate, he's a Zauberbiest, I'm a Grimm, he's resistance, he's your ex, I mean, we've got a complicated history as it is, without throwing me in the middle of his relationship with his daughter."

Adalind shook her head, and Nick suppressed a sigh. "I'm not trying to make your relationship with Renard any harder, Nick, I just…want what's best for Diana. Look how you were with her tonight; look how you've been since you found her."

"Adalind, I don't think you're giving Renard a chance. He loves Diana, he just hasn't had any opportunity to be with her and develop a relationship."

"Who's fault is that?" she snapped irritably.

"Give him a chance, Adalind."

"You don't know him like I do," She said.

"I know him pretty well," Nick countered, "We've worked together closely for the last seven years. I've helped him, and he's helped me."

"Yes, then you know that his helping you is helping himself. You're useful to him. What do you think happens when the usefulness runs out?" she looked away. "He discards you, like a piece of trash and finds something else to replace you," she said emotionally and Nick touched her arm and she shrugged him off.

"You should have seen him after you took my powers away. I was helping him, remember? Helping him to keep you close. He was afraid you'd leave Portland or not join him in his fight against the resistance, and he was willing to do anything to get that. Remember your Aunt Marie? When you took my powers away and he cast me aside like I was yesterday's news. Didn't matter that I loved him, or that we had been in a relationship. He had been just using me to get what he wanted: you. You think he's going to be any different with Diana? He's a royal, Nick, don't forget they always have an agenda."

"Yes, he's a royal, but Adalind you know as well as I do that he's not like the others. He's not going to use Diana like that."

She snorted. "Maybe. She's heir to the throne, Nick. His throne if he gets it. And he's determined to get it. You should have seen them tonight. It's like night and day with you and him. Yes, he loves her, okay. Even I can see that. He loves her in his own way, but he's also aware of what having her here with him can mean for his cause in the long run. I don't want that for her. I want her to have as normal a life as possible."

"Adalind, even you have to see how impossible that is going to be for her," Nick said quietly.

"No, difficult, yes, but not impossible. Not if you're involved in it."

"Are you kidding me? I'm a Grimm, she's an incredibly powerful Hexenbiest and a descendant of one of the royal families. There's nothing normal about me, or her, or us being around each other."

"There's nothing normal about us, either, yet here we are."

Nick crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the bureau, crossing his ankles. No, there wasn't. A Grimm and a Hexenbiest, albeit a former one? Still, there was no denying how he felt about her, even despite everything that had happened between them.

"Look, I know I made a mistake. I made some incredibly selfish choices when I made the decision to…to get pregnant with a royal baby. I didn't take into account what it would really mean for me and for her, but I didn't think I would want to keep her. I was just focused on getting my powers back until I saw her, and then…I know it was too late, and I know it's not your fault that I'm in this mess, but I need your help raising her, since Sean's focus is going to be entirely different from ours. And I know it's not fair to ask that of you, and put you in this position, but I'm asking anyway."

"Adalind," he said wearily.

"Please, Nick."

"You know as well as I do that I'm going to help you," he said and she reached out to play with one of the buttons on his shirt. "And I'll do my best with Diana, but…Renard's her father. Nothing's going to change that, and he has more say in her upbringing than I do."

"No, I have more say. I'm her mother. No one else is going to make that decision about her future than me."

"The decision was already made when you fucked a royal," Nick said and Adalind glared at him, pulling her hand away.

"Actually, I fucked two royals. And then a Grimm. Has the decision been already made there, too? Although I'm still fucking him, so at least I think he holds me in pretty high favor."

Nick raised his eyebrow and shook his head. "That's not what—Adalind—" this conversation was getting away from him.

"Maybe that's what he needs right now," she said, and Nick glared back at her.

"Well fucking guys _has_ always seemed to get you your way, hasn't it?" Nick spat, and her eyes flashed coldly. "Glad to know I'm not any different," he continued, growing angrier. "But why waste your time fucking me? Why not Renard?"

"Obviously, because I'm not in love with Sean, I'm in love with you, although the reason why is escaping me currently." He bit back a retort, coming back to himself, and took a minute to get back under control again before he opened his mouth.

"I'm sorry," he breathed, hand cupping the side of her face and she looked at him with eyes as dark as midnight. "I'm sorry," he said again resting his forehead against hers and she looked away from him, trying to school her features, but he caught the tears in her eyes and he pulled away, ashamed of himself.

"I wish she was yours," she said. "It would be easier. You're so good with children, it's just instinctive with you. She can sense that, you know. It's funny. That Grimm I fucked is the one who's children I wouldn't mind to keep having. Who I wish fathered both my children. You're right, then you wouldn't be in this position. We could maybe be happy together as a family."

"Adalind-We're happy. I'm happy," Nick assured her.

"Are you?" she said, giving him a dubious look.

"Yes, I wouldn't have asked you to be my wife if I wasn't. I'm sorry about what I said," he said again.

"Why? It's true."

"Adalind, you're not like that anymore."

"Really? You think I don't use sex to manipulate you sometimes?"

"I know you use sex to manipulate me sometimes. You think I don't enjoy it?"

Yes, it was true at times he got annoyed when he realized what she was trying to do, but rarely enough that he tried to stop her, and it happened rather infrequently anyway, her seriously trying to manipulate him that way, and them not just playing, and besides, he wasn't immune to being seduced by her, especially since he didn't _have_ to keep his distance now. He was involved with her, for crying out loud. He could finally take advantage of the fact and enjoy the extra and intimate attention and not fight the attraction he felt for her.

"I know you enjoy it," she replied. "God, we're a pair," she said, and Nick pulled her to him again, gentler this time, and pressed his forehead against hers.

"I know. Maybe we deserve each other, huh?" he said with a crooked smile but the humor fell short. There was a little more truth in that statement than perhaps either were comfortable with, but he had meant what he had said. It was a choice, his choice, to be with her and he was looking forward to the day when they were finally married.

"I'm sorry, too," she said. "For putting you in this situation, and asking this of you. She's a child with you. She's a descendant of royalty with Sean, and I just want her to be a child for as long as possible."

He sighed, and kissed her forehead, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her tight against him. She slid her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest.

"He was trying to explain his heritage to her, and tell her about her family and their birthright and all this other stuff-and the look on her face-and here you are just reading her a story before bed. That's what I want for her. Not all these crushing expectations placed on her, but just let her enjoy life as much as possible. We both know it's going to be hard enough because of who she is."

"It's their first meet. Give him some time, Adalind. I'm sure it was daunting to him to finally meet her, and know what to say or do."

"He wants me to bring her over this weekend. We got into an argument about it right before we left. He thinks since I had Diana this last weekend he should have her the next."

"Well, maybe it's good they get to spend some one on one time together, Adalind. Let them find some common ground and get to know one another without an audience. It's not like being a dad comes with a user manual. It's only fair that he gets some time to get to know her."

She was quiet for a moment. "I suppose, but I just got her back, Nick. Okay? I don't want to share her. I don't care if that sounds selfish or unreasonable. I was without her for three years, and I just want some time to spend with her before everyone else crowds in. He wants her to meet his mother."

Yes, he recalled Renard telling him a long time ago that his mother was searching for her granddaughter. She would be very pleased and curious to see her.

"Well, that's good. Diana would probably be thrilled to meet her and see someone like herself," Nick ventured, who wasn't Eve, he thought to himself.

"Elizabeth hates me," Adalind said, and Nick sighed.

"Then maybe it's best that they do meet when you're not there."

"Nick…what if they try to take her again from me? What if I drop her off at Sean's and his mother takes her somewhere far away and I never see her again?"

"I don't think she'll do that, Adalind."

"You don't know. I think this is going to get ugly," Adalind said after a moment, and privately Nick agreed. "Sean told me he was going to contact a lawyer about a custody arrangement."

"Maybe you can come to an agreement without having to drag Diana through all that."

"I don't know," Adalind said, and Nick knew she was determined to fight to keep her.

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AN: Take a moment and let me know if it worked or not. Puh-leez?


	14. Chapter 14

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It was amazing how two small children could love one another and get along one minute, and hate each other the next and fight continuously. One minute Diana and Kelly were playing happily together, giggling and having a good time, the next they could be shouting and crying. Kelly seemed to have calmed down a little bit, but he still appeared to be jealous of the attention his mother and father bestowed on Diana. This seemed to be tempered by having found a playmate and fellow explorer in Diana, whom Nick suspected enjoyed the brotherly admiration. Kelly found it utterly fascinating all the magical things, literally, that Diana could do and delighted in it whenever she did.

He had not been as impressed when she decided to use some of it against him in a fit of temper and Nick and Adalind had had to establish some ground rules fast. Fortunately, no one other than George had been hurt though her use of her powers in anger had alarmed Nick and Adalind.

It was Friday and Nick was walking in the main corridor with Hank from interrogation when Diana skipped up to him with a big smile on her face, Kelly close behind.

"Hi Nick! Who's that?" she asked turning to follow in step with him, and looking at Hank. Nick scooped up Kelly, and met Adalind's eyes as she approached.

"This is my partner Hank," Nick said and Hank smiled at Diana. "Hank, this is Diana," Nick introduced.

"Hello," Hank said.

"Hello," she chirped, a supernatural halo of purple glowing in her eyes and making Nick's heart stop before it faded just as quickly. "We went to the park," she told Nick taking hold of his hand.

"You did? I'm jealous." Nick said, thinking of the gritty homicide he had investigated all morning.

"Me too," Hank said. "I love the slide," he added when Diana looked at him. She grinned.

"I like the swings," she said swinging Nick's arm. "Kelly and I went down the swirly slide," she added.

"Oh that one's the best," Hank said, and Nick looked at him biting down a smile. "What?"

"Nothing," Nick said, and he disentangled his hand from Diana's and used it to guide her ahead of him into the department. She skipped to his desk and pulled out his chair.

"Can I sit in your chair?" she asked Nick.

"Sure," he said, and then had to set Kelly down to do the same when he saw his sister climb into Nick's chair. There was a brief squabble over space before Adalind admonished them both with the threat to get along or get down. Hank sat at his desk, watching the show.

"I thought we could all get something to eat before I take Diana to Sean's," Adalind said after a hard stare at both her children, who stared back with large innocent eyes, and Nick checked his watch. It was a few minutes before five, and he looked at Hank questioningly.

"Go, I think we're done for the day anyway. We can follow up on the witness statement tomorrow first thing," and Nick nodded gratefully.

"Let me take these down to evidence," Nick said, and Adalind nodded, pulling the chair out from the empty desk opposite Nick's.

"Can I go with you?" Diana asked, bouncing down off his chair, and Nick paused and looked back at her.

"I don't—sure," he said, making the mistake of meeting her beseeching blue eyes. She smiled, and Nick got the distinct impression he had been suckered. He glanced at Adalind who bit down a smile, and he nodded, twisting his lips. "Come on," he said with a sigh as he grabbed the evidence bags and strode out of the department. She skipped along beside him, grabbing his hand again, and proceeded to pepper him with questions the entire journey.

"How long have you been a detective?" she asked him as they stepped out of the elevator and walked to the evidence locker, still swinging his hand and hopscotching (he was guessing) the tiles on the floor.

"I've been a detective for about, let's see, about nine years, maybe," he replied.

"Do you like it?" she asked him, glancing at him before hopping alternately on one foot, then both.

"Yeah," he said, "I do."

He punched the code for evidence and Diana followed him in, a bit more sedately.

"Hey Nick."

"Hey Ralston," Nick replied. "Need to log some things in."

"Okay, who's this?" Ralston asked, looking at Diana hovering near Nick's hip.

"This…is Diana," Nick said, smiling at her and then turning back to the log.

"Oh, your daughter?" Ralston asked, sounding confused.

"Uhh," Nick hedged, pen freezing. "Soon to be step-daughter," he managed, smiling briefly at Ralston before continuing with his log.

"Oh, you're getting married? Congratulations," he offered, and Nick smiled again.

"Thanks." He scribbled quickly, Diana watching him closely, smiling shyly at Ralston when he looked at her.

"Diana's a pretty name. How old are you?" he asked her and Nick scribbled off the page.

"She's six," Nick cut in hurriedly before Diana could. She looked at Nick curiously, as did Ralston, and Nick managed another strained smile and tried to finish what he was doing as fast as possible.

"Six? That's a good age. Do you like school?"

"She loves it," Nick cut in, again eliciting another curious look from Diana. School. What would they do with her? Could they find a school for her…specialness. Adalind had been homeschooled.

"It's okay," Diana said, surprising Nick. It was his turn to look at her curiously.

"My other daddy is a police captain," she said to Ralston and he transferred his gaze to her in surprise.

"Oh?" he said, eyes flicking to Nick. "So when are you getting married?" he asked Nick in a stilted tone, and Nick paused his pen, the thought entering his mind that Ralston probably thought Nick took up with a police captain's wife, or ex-wife. Hell, given what had circulated about him after Adalind showed up at the station pregnant with Kelly they probably thought he _broke up_ the marriage.

"We haven't set a date yet," Nick said, "And we're done," he told Diana, and handed Ralston back the log and the evidence.

"Hey, uh, some of this isn't very legible," Ralston noted, squinting at the log.

"I know, my handwriting's atrocious. Ready?" he asked Diana and she smiled and nodded, grabbing his hand.

"Bye," she said, waving to Ralston, who buzzed the lock on the door absently as he still tried to make out what Nick had put down.

"Bye," he said distractedly, and Nick ushered her out of the evidence locker before Ralston had the chance to delay them.

"What's a step-daughter?" she asked him as they were waiting for the elevator, Diana still hopping along the tile squares.

"That is—" crap, how to explain it to a six year old? "That…is what you'll be when your mommy and I get married. I'll be your stepdad and you'll be my stepdaughter. I'm not your real daddy—your biological daddy—your real daddy is the Captain, just like you're not my biological daughter, you're Captain Renard's daughter, I'm just the guy who—" _is sleeping with your mother/lives with her/is scarring her daughter for life_ –"is really making this too confusing." He finished lamely, flashing an apologetic smile at Diana and the look of confusion on her face.

"What's Kelly?" she asked him.

"Kelly is my son, and he's your brother," he told her, and thought it wise not to get into the finer details about half-siblings.

"Is a step-daughter a bad thing?"

"No," he said, kneeling down in front of her. "No, it's not. It's a good thing. I'm very lucky to say you're going to be my step-daughter," he told her.

"Okay," she said, still sounding confused. He stood when the elevator dinged, signaling its arrival and she followed him on, still looking pensive.

"What do I call you? Can I still call you daddy?"

"You can call me Nick," he said, "Or daddy, I guess, is fine," he added at her expression. He got the distinct impression his claim that a step-daughter was not a bad thing was not believed. There was still the matter of acceptance to her. She knew she was different. That she was the odd child out in her new little family, and she craved belonging with them.

He just hoped to God Renard never heard her call Nick daddy in his presence.

"Are you excited about tonight?" he asked her, thinking a change in subject might be in order.

"Yeah," she said, sounding a little more upbeat. "Mommy said it's like a pajama party," Diana told him, and Nick recalled they—Adalind, Kelly and Diana—had had one earlier in the week to demonstrate. He had come home late from work to find all three in footed pajamas. Nick had teased Adalind mercilessly about hers, though secretly he thought she looked as adorable in hers as the children, that is until she had informed him she bought him a set. He almost didn't escape the resulting insistence that he joined them in on the fun.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Nick said.

"Are you and mommy and Kelly going to have a pajama party while I'm gone?"

"Yeah, maybe," Nick said, thinking of a more adult version of a pajama party for him and Adalind, minus the pajamas, and Kelly asleep in his crib next door. "We'll see."

"You and mommy can come to my pajama party, daddy won't mind," Diana said, looking up at him, and Nick smirked at the thought of Renard welcoming Nick to join them. "Kelly can come, too," she added graciously, as an afterthought.

"Not this time," he told her. "You'll have to have fun without me, okay?"

"Okay," she said.

"Okay. But you know what? I think, we should get your other daddy some of those footed pajamas." She smiled and nodded and Nick grinned mischievously.

"Let's ask mommy where she found them."

"At the mall," Diana told him.

"Hmm…we'll have time to swing by after dinner. Maybe you can pick them out," Nick told her and she grinned happily. "Since you did so well on mine," he added dryly. He could only hope they were pink and purple with rainbows and unicorns and sparkles and hearts and that Renard would wear them proudly. And that Diana would take photos of it. Perhaps they would also have time to show Diana how to work a camera.

"Mommy picked yours out."

"I had a feeling," Nick replied.

%%%%%%%%

"Five more minutes. I swear," Nick promised and Adalind gave him a _yeah, right_ look but nodded. She and Kelly were playing with his police car at Nick's desk. Nick paused at his desk, grabbing a file folder and a couple of papers, and moving away before he became aware Diana was still following. He quirked an eyebrow at her, and she smiled beatifically and kept pace, Nick glancing over her head to Adalind who shook her head again, but turned her attention back to their son.

"Where are we going now?" Diana asked him.

"To find Sergeant Wu and give him a couple of files related to my case."

"Did somebody die?" She asked him. He glanced at her in surprise.

"Yeah." He said, wondering how much she understood about what he did. She was scarily intelligent for her age—like Kelly, advanced, and though Nick was no slouch in the brains department either, he could only guess that was largely Adalind's genes. She was scarily intelligent, too. Diana understood he was a Grimm. Nick wondered how much of her life had been sugarcoated.

"Are you going to find who did it?"

"Yup, hopefully," Nick said.

"You will," she replied confidently, taking his hand and hopscotching again, apparently an activity that never grew old.

"Detective," someone called, and Nick looked up.

"Hey Oswald. Have you seen Wu?" Nick asked him.

"He's looking for you. He's with the captain and some woman when I last saw him." Oswald pointed down the hallway and Nick nodded his thanks.

The captain. Right. He glanced down at Diana, still skipping along beside him, oblivious to his thoughts.

"I want pancakes," Diana said, and Nick flicked his eyes to her face, where she glanced at him before looking back down at her feet and the tiles.

"For dinner?" Nick asked, and she nodded and hopped two squares. "You had pancakes for breakfast yesterday. And the day before that," he recalled.

"So," she replied.

"So…maybe we'll try something different for dinner, and I'm sure you can wrangle another round of pancakes out of your mother tomorrow morning."

"Kelly likes pancakes, too," she added, as though that might change his mind.

Kelly liked anything with the word "cake" in it and Nick told Diana as much. She giggled and stopped, and therefore Nick stopped as well and watched as she hopped two and a half tiles together.

"Are you and Kelly getting along better?" Nick asked. She shrugged, and attempted another jump.

"I guess," she said when she was done.

"He looks up to his big sister, you know," Nick told her. She shrugged again.

"I guess."

"Go easy on him," Nick said. "And George," he added, and Diana looked up from what she was doing to meet Nick's eyes. Her eyes glowed with that faint lilac luminesce and Nick gave her a warning look.

"I said I was sorry," she mumbled, and Nick reached down and picked her up into his arms. She would be small like her mother, he suspected, petite. Her thin arms wrapped around his neck and he shifted her slightly so he could look at her.

"I know you are. Remember what we talked about, okay. Mommy and I love you very much, just as we love Kelly very much. We don't use our powers in anger at our loved ones," Nick said quietly. "I would never hurt you or Kelly or your mommy, I expect that you would never hurt Kelly or any of us, okay?"

"Okay," she whispered, looking at him with doe eyes. "I fixed George," she added, and Nick placed a kiss on her temple and made to set her back down, but her arms tightened and he shifted her weight again and resumed walking.

"That was very good of you," Nick replied, not sure how else to categorize the beheading and subsequent reheading her powers had allowed of George the Garish Giraffe. "Now, let's see if we can find Sergeant Wu so we can go eat."

%%%%%%%%

"Wu!"

"Nick!" Wu whispered, and Nick frowned wondering at the need for secrecy. "Hey—uh—hello," Wu said when he realized Nick was carrying a child. He pursed his lips, eyeing Diana. "You must be Diana," he said, looking her over carefully.

"Hello," she said, returning the look.

"What's with the whispering?" Nick asked.

"Uhh—" Wu said, still looking at Diana, before glancing quickly behind him at something, prompting Nick to quit his focus on Wu and look beyond him to whatever Wu seemed to be concerned about. Wu turned back to Nick before he caught sight of anything that would cause alarm.

"Uhh, well, I think you've got a bit of domestic situation about to unfold," Wu said, and Nick felt his forehead crease in confusion.

"What?" he asked stupidly.

"The captain—"

"Wu did you find—ah! Nick! Good," Renard said, and Nick straightened, as did Wu.

"Yup, sir, I found him. If that will be all," Wu said, turning to look at Renard. "Sorry," he managed as an aside to Nick and hurried away with another apologetic look and Nick watched him go before turning back to the captain with an unsettled feeling.

"Nick, before I—ah, Diana," Renard said in surprise, coming up short as he approached Nick.

"Hi daddy," she replied, and Renard glanced at her and Nick, eyes taking in the small child Nick was carrying; more accurately Renard taking in the fact it was _his_ child Nick was carrying as though Nick's own.

"What are you doing here?" Renard asked.

"Dinner," Nick said. "Before Adalind dropped Diana off at your place."

"Ah, yes, well, about that—"

"I got to see the evidence room, Daddy," Diana told him. "And Nick let me sit in his chair. And I met Hank," she added. "And Sergeant Wu," she said, as Renard opened his mouth to reply.

"That's…good," Renard said, eyes flicking to Nick, before glancing behind him, and Nick's unsettled feeling grew. He tried to look around Renard to see what was behind him, couldn't make anything out, so he tried his Grimm hearing. Attempted to nonchalantly take a more protective hold on Diana without alarming her.

"Sean, we really need to—is that?" A feminine voice said, and Nick thought he knew it. He shifted again, moving his weight to the left to see around Renard. Elizabeth stood, looking as beautiful and elegant and ageless as ever, staring at Diana held in Nick's arms.

"Is that my granddaughter?" she asked, looking at Sean, who glanced at his mother again and then at Nick.

"Nick, you remember my mother, Elizabeth. Mother, this is Diana," Renard introduced formally, and Elizabeth approached slowly, eyes taking in every detail of the little girl doing the same. The lights flickered, and Elizabeth paused. Nick's eyes went to Diana's which were glowing brightly, and Renard's eyebrow rose in surprise. Nick wondered how much of her powers he had seen in his history of her, and if he had seen anything the night Adalind had brought her over.

"It's all right, dear, I'm not going to hurt you," Elizabeth promised with a smile, and though Nick didn't sense fear in Diana, she still glanced at Nick and Renard for reassurance, eyes purple. The lights flickered again, resulting in some popping near the electrical outlets, catching the attention of some other officers in the hallway. Renard looked at Diana in concern.

"It's okay. She's your grandmother," Nick affirmed, and the glow faded, and the lights brightened, as though no longer experiencing an energy drain. Nick set Diana down and she hesitantly approached Elizabeth, before skipping her final few steps to her. Elizabeth smiled brightly and picked her up.

"I've waited a long time to meet you," she said to Diana, and Diana smiled, eyes haloed.

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Nick glanced at Adalind out of the side of his eye, noting her alert and rigid posture. She held Kelly in her arms, both of them watching Diana interact with Elizabeth and Renard. The way she was holding Kelly was almost possessive, and Nick wondered what was going through her mind as she observed her daughter.

Elizabeth had largely ignored Adalind, and Nick really, though she had accepted his thanks for her help in getting his Grimm powers back, and had offered an apology of her own for what had happened with Juliette because of it, and had slid her eyes to Adalind without expression, or at least one Nick could see, but Adalind seemed to bristle under the scrutiny.

Otherwise Elizabeth had kept her focus and conversation on Diana, Renard watching them both, glancing at Nick and Adalind occasionally, eyes lingering on Adalind and her chokehold on Kelly. Nick wondered if those scars would ever heal for her, or that she would always wonder if someone was going to take her daughter away the moment she wasn't looking. Given the interest from the Royals, perhaps it wasn't being paranoid, but Nick felt a pang of remorse once again for his role in keeping her from her daughter.

He watched as Kelly began to squirm, tired of his mother's suffocating grip, or, maybe more likely, not having his share in the attention Diana was getting. He began to fuss when Adalind maintained her hold, realizing as Nick had what his intention was, but he finally managed to fight his way free and joined Diana on the floor.

Elizabeth acknowledged the intrusion gracefully, and even Diana bore Kelly's interruption well, inviting him to play with her.

"You named him after your mother? I was sorry to hear what had happened to her when Sean told me. I understand she took great care of Diana when she had her." Elizabeth said to Nick.

"Adalind chose the name," Nick said, and Sean looked at Adalind in surprise. She returned his look with a stony expression, raising an eyebrow challengingly.

"Are you talking about my mommy?" Diana asked Elizabeth.

"We're talking about the lady who took care of you long before you came to be with us. Do you remember her?" Elizabeth asked, and Nick noticed Adalind started slightly. He, too, had never thought to ask Diana about what memories she may have of Nick's mother. Had assumed she was so young as to have had any, but given her memories of Adalind and Renard when she was but a couple of weeks old, now he was curious to the answer.

"Yeah, my first mommy," Diana said, and Nick's eyes shot to Adalind. She had a strange expression on her face, and he could only imagine what it must be like for her to not even be considered the rightful, the _only_ mother her daughter had.

"Yes, do you remember her?"

Diana's eyes began to glow and she nodded, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Yeah," she whispered. "She was nice. We used to play games, and she would read me stories every night, like Nick and mommy does, and she took care of me when I wasn't feeling good, and she would tuck me into bed every night and tell me she loved me and sometimes she would tell me stories about Nick," Diana said, and Nick's eyebrows jumped in surprise. Maybe that was why she was so comfortable and familiar with him. She had no fear or hesitation because his mother had already laid the groundwork for a relationship with every story or anecdote of his youth she told. Nick the Grimm, and Nick ached to hear what his mother had said to Diana about him.

"The bad people got her." Diana said emotionally, eyes bright, and Renard's office lighting flashed. "The royals," she said with a surprising amount of venom for one so young, and Nick raised his eyebrows again, unaware—or perhaps had refused to ever consider what a small child like Diana might have witnessed. The royals. He wondered where she had learned the term. Meisner? His mother? Did she connect that she was one? "They hurt her, and she didn't wake up, even when I asked her to," Diana said, starting to cry, and Adalind came off her seat.

"All right, that's enough," Adalind said, and Nick needed a moment to gather himself, too. It had been a long time since he had allowed himself to think of his mother, and what her final moments had been like. He had wondered if she knew she had been set up, betrayed by Juliette, or if she had been so busy fighting for her life that it never occurred to her. Maybe she thought they were after him. The fear she must have felt with Diana so near, unable to protect her. Kenneth claiming the kill, and Nick felt anger seize him, anger at Juliette for betraying not only Nick, but Diana, too. She had known some happiness and contentment, and now she had this memory to haunt her for the rest of her life, and he hoped she hadn't seen what they had done with his mother. Hoped that came after Diana was gone from the scene. Nick stood, too, agitated, and Adalind scooped Diana up, Kelly watching with wide eyes.

"That's enough," Adalind said again. "We're going home," she announced, glaring at Sean as though daring him to defy her, and she transferred her cold gaze to Elizabeth who looked apologetic from Diana's story as well.

"You can't take Diana home with you, it's my weekend we agreed," Renard cut in angrily.

"Sean," Elizabeth broke in, and Renard backed off a bit.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth said to Adalind, regaining her composure, looking appropriately contrite.

"We're going home," Adalind said again.

"I'm sorry, my dear, to have upset you," she said to Diana, who had her cheek pressed against Adalind's shoulder. "It sounds as though you loved her very much, and she you," Elizabeth offered. "And you have every right to hold her in such high esteem, and to feel sad that she's no longer with you. But fear not, where you might have lost one who loved you so, you have gained no less than five that love you just as much, if not more," and Diana looked at her, considering, and Elizabeth reached out a hand, and smoothed down Diana's hair. "If you'd like, I can show you a way to honor her, would you like that?"

"Some other time," Adalind said, moving to the door, and Nick grabbed Kelly off the floor and swung him up in his arms.

"Isth Diana okay?" he asked.

"I understand your need to protect your daughter," Elizabeth said to Adalind.

"Good then you'll be able to understand why I think having her anywhere near you is a bad idea," Adalind retorted. "Or you," She said to Renard, and Nick raised his eyebrow at her tone.

"Excuse me?" Renard said coldly.

"You think I don't know there's something going on with you," she said, handing Diana off to Nick, as she rounded back on Renard. "You're after something, and right now it might suit you to have a daughter, but don't think I'm unaware of what will happen to Diana when it doesn't."

"You've got some nerve," Renard said, looking pissed. "Just where do you get off? Just what have I done that's so bad that you think it justifies keeping my daughter from me?"

"You gave her away."

"I gave her to Nick's mom and you don't seem to be mad at him. For the last time, I told you I did what was best for our daughter."

 _Uh, excuse me,_ Nick thought, _She became a hexenbiest again just so she could screw me, literally, and take away my powers, so maybe it's your turn to feel a little of her anger._ Now probably wasn't the time to remind them of that.

"Well good, because now _I'm_ doing what's best for our daughter and that involves limiting her time with you."

"Adalind," Sean warned. "You don't want to go that route."

"No, Sean. I think I do."

"I think maybe now is not the best time to discuss this," Elizabeth broke in, and Adalind flashed her eyes in annoyance at the interruption, before glancing at Diana and Kelly, both looking slightly alarmed at the angry words being traded.

"Come on, let's take you out here," Nick said quietly, placing a kiss on Diana's head and led both children out into the bullpen. Adalind and Renard's voice still carried beyond the confines of Renard's office, Elizabeth's, too. Nick gave Diana quiet instruction to sit at his desk. Diana nodded numbly and Kelly followed, taking her hand, voice expressing bewildered concern at her unhappiness. Diana clambered up into the seat and Nick set Kelly in it beside her. "You guys stay here," he instructed as the war of insults waged on. "Don't leave this chair. I'll be right back."

"No, you don't have any idea what you want. You might like the idea of a daughter, but the reality is going to get in your way. Face it, the only time she's going to be useful for you is if or when you take the throne, and I honest to God hope you never do so she never has to be faced with all that."

"She's a royal, whether you like it or not. You brought this on when you decided it would be a good idea to get pregnant with a royal's baby so you could _sell_ it and get your powers back. Are you under some impression you're some kind of saint in all this? Or martyr, excuse me, I forgot."

"I may have made some poor choices in the beginning, but I _wanted_ my daughter!"

"So did I! You never gave me any choices in the matter. She's at risk because of what _you_ did, Adalind. I may have never asked for a child, because I knew what this life would be like for one, but I accepted my responsibility for you having mine. Just like Nick! You remember. You never gave him any choice in the matter either. I don't see you punishing him."

"What Nick and I have is none of your business," Adalind said coldly.

"I don't give a damn what you have. You can have each other as far as I'm concerned, but you're not having my daughter. I have just as much right to spend time with her as you."

"I lost three years of her life because of you," Adalind all but shouted. "I lost everything! Do you know how out of my mind I was with grief when you took her from me and gave her away? I thought you had given her to the royals! I took away Nick's powers, and I flew half way across the world to try and find her and get her back, only to find out that she wasn't there!"

"Yeah, I know. I got shot trying to fix what you took from Nick, remember? And did you forget whose mother recreated the spell you used against Nick in order to get his powers back. So don't act like what you did was any great sacrifice on your part."

"You're right. I may have lost my daughter and my half my mind for a while, but it did get me Kelly, and it got me Nick."

"Yeah, but at what price for him? I'll give you credit, that was some of your best work right there. You think he honestly wanted you? That he would have chosen you if you had given him any other options? Do you think that anyone would?"

There was a loud crack and Nick reached the office in time to see Adalind's palm connect with Renard's face. Renard woged, rotted face glaring hatefully at Adalind, and Elizabeth's woged as well. Adalind's face was dark, too, and it was the closest to her old self that she had seemed in a long time. Renard leaned in close and said something so low and cold that it set Nick's teeth on edge. He moved towards Renard, but before he could intervene Diana did.

The lights exploded in Renard's office, catching both Renard and Adalind off guard, and Nick, truth be told. For a moment everyone stood frozen at the sudden noise and subsequent darkness and then the blinds snapped shut and the door slammed closed. Nick registered Kelly's cry of alarm and felt his heartrate spike as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He heard Adalind's disconcerted breathing and shifted towards her, realizing Kelly and Diana were still on one side of the door and the adults on the other.

"Mama?" he heard Kelly say, and Nick didn't have time to wonder what was going on out in the bullpen.

"What just happened?" Adalind asked.

"I'm not sure," Renard said, and Nick heard the unmistakable sound of faces transforming back to human form.

"Diana," Nick said grimly. "I don't think she cares for your behavior."

"Extraordinary," Elizabeth murmured.

"Diana," Adalind called. "It's okay, everything's fine. Mommy and…Daddy are just…talking."

Renard snorted.

"Oh, is that what you call it?" Elizabeth murmured icily.

"Really? Could have fooled me, too." Nick muttered low to her, and even in what little light he could detect he could see her roll her eyes at him in annoyance. He felt Adalind's hand brush against his back as she used him to help orient her, and her hands moved from his back to his arm, which she kept a hold of as she moved around him and the office.

"Where's the door?" Adalind asked him. "You were right by it."

"Behind me," Nick said, and Adalind squeezed between him and the leather sofa to reach it. She twisted the knob and then rattled the door against the frame trying to get it to turn.

"It's locked," she said in surprise.

"Go figure. It's kind of what she does," Nick replied.

"I don't hear her, or Kelly," Adalind said in with a slight note of panic. "Do you?"

Nick felt her hair brush against his chin as she turned her head to face him, eyes large and worried. Nick tilted his head slightly listening for the sound of his son's voice, or Diana's, but like Adalind he didn't hear anything.

"No," he said quietly, trying the door himself. "Diana?" Nick called out. "Diana, honey, open the door."

"Diana?" Renard called out. "Diana, everything's okay. It's fine. Open the door."

"I don't think she's there," Nick said.

"Nick, Kelly," Adalind said worriedly, and Nick had a clear insight as to the root of her panic. Not just her daughter, but her son, too, possibly gone.

"They wouldn't have gone far," Nick said soothingly and privately hoped he was right. He was starting to feel a little panicky himself. He didn't think Diana would leave the station without either Nick or Adalind, but the station was vast, and he wasn't sure where they would go. Kelly for all his eagerness to explore the station the many times he had visited Nick there would likely stay with Diana out of need for familiarity.

Kelly was starting to demonstrate a bit of a devil-may-care type of bravery, that Nick was currently fervently hoping was only fueled by the comfort of a parent nearby to back him up and save him if needed.

Two small children wandering alone in a mostly empty station. Still, with what cops remained in the building they likely wouldn't get far without someone showing concern.

Unless of course Diana did something to stop them.

Nick pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" Renard asked him.

"Calling Monroe and Rosalee," Nick replied, but the screen on his phone blipped and twisted. Nick stared at it, thumb hovering over the glass. "She's still close," Nick said, thinking. "I think…I think this may all just be a trick. A hallucination," Nick said, thinking of how she had erected the supposed wall in the corridor at H.W. He looked around the room, squinting in the dim light of the phone's power.

"Where's Elizabeth?" Nick asked Renard, and Adalind looked up and around the room in surprise. Renard looked to where Elizabeth had been, seated in one of the chairs, empty now, and looked back at Nick. So did Adalind.

"Do you think Diana or Elizabeth is doing this?" Adalind asked him.

"Diana. Definitely. Just…not sure why." Nick said, turning back to the door. "I mean, other than the fact to get away from you two rehashing the finer points of your relationship, and mine," Nick added bitterly.

"She did this before," Nick said, thinking out loud. "When she wanted to get me alone, she erected…barriers, locked them out, isolated me from everyone else."

"So you're saying…we're the everyone else."

"Yeah," Nick said after a second.

"Why would she want to be alone with Elizabeth," Adalind asked.

"Why not? She's her grandmother. You can't keep Diana from wanting to know her family, or only your side of it," Renard said with a hard look at Nick. "It's not her heritage."

"Excuse me? Adalind exclaimed.

"Guys! Can we do this later?" Nick interrupted.

"Why are you here?" Renard asked him.

"Excuse me?" Nick said, unconsciously echoing Adalind.

"This doesn't involve you. Diana is my daughter. You need to stay out of it."

"It does involve me, because not only does it involve my son, but also because of the fact I live in the same house as your daughter, I feed your daughter, I take care of your daughter every day and night the same as I do my son, and that sometime in the near future she'll be my step-daughter, so you might as well get used to the idea I'm going to be around and involved whether you like it or not," Nick said.

"You don't have to do anything. I can feed her, and take care of her myself and she can live with me, and not be your problem."

"Over my dead body," Adalind spat.

"Don't tempt me," Renard said, and Nick was in his face before he realized he had moved.

" _She_ isn't my problem," Nick said. " _You_ are. I'm not trying to compete with you for some father of the year award so you can just calm the hell down. I'm just trying to make sure this all works so both she and her mother don't have to endure any more trauma than they already have. She's going to live with us," Nick said with finality, "but it's to everyone's best interests, Diana's especially, if you can work out a visitation agreement without having to drag it out through the courts and drag Diana into the middle of it, otherwise I suspect you're going to have a lot more of this," and Nick waved his hand in indication of their current predicament.

"What makes you think I want my daughter living with you? You think I think she's going to be safe? How many times was your house broken into? How many times did someone try to kill you? Juliette?"

"I don't give a damn what you think," Nick said. "Your daughter's life is going to be in danger because of who she is, because of you, but maybe if we all work together at it, she can still have a fairly good one."

Light blasted through the blinds. They were open now, Nick noted, and he could see Kelly and Diana and Elizabeth sitting out in the bullpen, at his desk, where he had left them. Adalind gasped and wrenched the door open, and three heads swiveled to look at her, one in surprise, the other with a raised eyebrow at the interruption. The third, Diana's, looked at Nick, Renard, and Adalind rather guiltily, and Nick pursed his lips as Renard brushed by him.

%%%%%%%%


	15. Chapter 15

%%%%%%%%

"Nick, captain wants to see us," Hank told him and Nick twisted his lips with a sour expression. Doubtful Renard wanted to see Nick. It had been two weeks since the showdown, as he had come to think of it sardonically, in Renard's office, and Nick and Renard had done a fine job of ignoring each other.

Adalind had reluctantly, mostly because of Diana's, and a little of Nick's, insistence, allowed Diana to spend the weekend with Renard as they had agreed, but she had not permitted Renard to have any other contact with his daughter. Nick hadn't pushed the issue, mostly because when Diana had come home that Sunday from her weekend with Renard she had not seemed herself. When Nick had asked her how her pajama party with Renard and Elizabeth went she had indicated she had spent most of the weekend with her grandmother and not Renard, and Adalind's lips had pressed together in disapproval.

Like Adalind, Nick was beginning to wonder what Renard was about. He had been distracted for the last few weeks with whatever it was, distant and gone from the station frequently. Instead it had been Nick who had joined Adalind at a parent's meeting for a private school for Wesen children, referred to by Dr. Ansheimler. After much discussion with Ansheimler about Diana it was determined that she would be best to attend there, where she would have one on one education with a teacher, and perhaps could be assimilated into a regular school based on her behavior and how well she learned to control her Wesen nature among Kehrseite.

In addition to her formal education there was the matter of figuring out what to do with her when Adalind went back to work, a reality that was fast approaching. She would return to her law firm in a couple of weeks, having exhausted her leave, and Berman had flatly turned down an extension. There would at least be a few hours from the time her school day ended to when Nick could pick her and Kelly up, and Ansheimler had reluctantly agreed to providing care on a temporary basis for her for that time, until Nick and Adalind could figure out a permanent solution.

Throughout all this Nick couldn't help a growing resentment that Renard wasn't the one making these decisions, providing solutions, helping to care for his daughter, but then Adalind had brushed off any notion of including Renard in any of her decisions regarding Diana. It would be easier for both Adalind and Nick to have his help in some of the day to day stuff, or even Elizabeth's.

Instead he swallowed the resentment and tried to at least be a positive influence in Diana's life, and not let on how annoyed he was by her father's behavior. They had enough to keep busy with anyway, what with all still adjusting to each other and two small children in the household and preparing to move in a week. Which reminded Nick he needed to let Renard know he would be needing a few days off soon.

"You coming?" Hank asked him, breaking his thoughts.

"Yeah," Nick said shortly, standing up and following Hank into Renard's office. He closed the door behind him and stood next to it, ignoring Wu's strange look at him when he turned to see him, and Hank shook his head slightly and turned his attention back to Renard.

"You wanted to see us, Captain?" Hank said, and Renard pulled his eyes from where they rested on Nick back to Hank. He shifted at his desk.

"Yeah. There's a container at Port Authority with three bodies in it. It came from Munich. How much do you know about what's going on there?" Renard asked Nick, and Nick stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and shrugged.

"Haven't been back to the wall since Diana," Nick said. "Been out of the loop for a while. Busy with other things," he finished with a bit of a bite, and then decided it was best he didn't say anything else. He rocked back on his heels and shrugged again. Wu gave him another look and a muscle in Renard's jaw ticked.

"Munich?" Hank said. "Are we talking a Black Claw thing?"

Renard looked at Nick again. "I think so. The uprising has been regrouping in Europe. There's upheaval amongst the royal families," and Nick sharpened his gaze on Renard. The Royals. Well, that certainly explained how distracted Renard had been over the last few weeks. He wondered what Renard was thinking, if it was time for him to make his move whatever that might entail. If Diana was especially at risk due to the upheaval going on over there. Had there been renewed interest in finding her?

"Should Adalind and I be concerned about Diana?" he asked stiffly.

"Possibly," Renard acknowledged. "How has she been?" he asked after a moment.

"Fine," Nick said shortly. "Meisner would probably have information on any movements by any of those connected to the royal families. I guess I can go see him and see what I can find out," Nick said, though honestly he had enjoyed his small reprieve from them, and Renard nodded.

"What do want us to do?"

"Get down to Port Authority and see what you can find out," Renard told Wu.

"Feds have jurisdiction."

"I know, but maybe we can link it back to one of our prior cases—we dealt with something similar with the Mauvais dente, didn't we? Bodies in a container?"

"Yeah."

"See what information you can get from there."

"Rodger that," Hank said and Nick reached for the door.

"Nick," Renard said, and Nick straightened, rolling his eyes at the ceiling. "A minute," and Nick turned back to Renard, meeting Hank's eyes as Wu and Hank slipped by him and out the door.

"Yes, captain," Nick said formally and Renard looked at him for a long moment.

"Is that how it's really going to be between us?" Renard asked him, standing. Nick shrugged.

"You wanted to speak to me about something related to the case?"

"Not about the case, no—"

"Then you don't have any reason to speak to me about anything else," Nick interrupted coldly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some information to find out."

"Nick," Renard said, exasperatedly.

"Captain," Nick replied with a sneer and left the office.

%%%%%%%%

"Daddy!" Kelly chirped.

"You're home!" Diana said excitedly, and he caught her as she leapt into his arms.

"I am," Nick said, and scooped up his son as he reached Nick. He planted a kiss on each child and Adalind when he reached her. "How was your day, dear?" he asked her sardonically and she sighed and gave him a look.

"That good?" Nick asked her, setting the children down and looking around him. "Well, I've see you've made…no progress whatsoever since this morning," he commented, earning another glare.

"You try packing with two small children," she muttered. "After this, we are never moving again," Adalind said. "Last time didn't we have a moving company come pack and move us?"

"Yes, when you had just had Kelly and it was all my stuff to pack up." His and Juliette's anyway. He had given away or sold most of it when they remodeled the loft a year ago. "Last time they took it all to storage because I didn't want to risk anyone knowing where we were at and I still don't."

"When are you going to do some of the heavy lifting?"

"I'm going to take some time off at the end of the week. I'm in the middle of an investigation right now, I don't think Renard will let me."

"You're always in the middle of an investigation," Adalind retorted with a sigh, and Nick flashed his eyes at her.

"I'm sorry I'm busy, okay, but I promise to share in my half of the move soon, just give me a couple of days."

She gave a look that was part apology and nodded, looking around her at the mess of boxes, toys, and furniture. Nick noted the table was covered with documents, and it appeared he wasn't the only one in the middle of something. "Lizstein?"

"Something like that," Adalind said with a note of aggravation and then looked at him. Nick raised his eyebrow and leaned over the table. His eyes caught the words custody and he peered closer.

"Are these what I think they are?" Nick asked, moving some papers aside.

"Yeah, I got served today while you were at work." She said in a low voice, and Nick looked up at her.

"Unbelievable," Nick muttered, thinking of Renard's attempt to try and mend fences. "When did they serve you? And where? Here?"

"This afternoon, about a couple of hours ago, and while we were at the park, would you believe," Adalind answered angrily. She glanced up where Diana and Kelly were still running around with boundless energy and sighed.

"He's suing for full custody," she said in a low voice.

"What?" Nick exclaimed and shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something when Kelly came giggling over his way, tiny hands bracing against Nick's legs as he maneuvered around Nick, giggling and shrieking, as Diana pursued him. Nick closed his mouth, and bit his tongue for the time being, focusing on the children.

"Daddy helf," Kelly begged, still giggling uncontrollably and Nick raised his eyebrow.

"With what?" he asked, bending down to tickle his son.

"Noooo!" Kelly shrieked, and Nick grinned, catching Diana's eye as she paused in chasing Kelly.

"And you," Nick said, reaching for her, and she shrieked too, eyes electrifying, making the lighting flash and flicker, "you think I should help you?"

"No!" she yelled, but Nick grabbed her and tickled her too, resulting in more shrieking and the lights blowing out.

"Whoops," Nick said, straightening.

"Uh-oh," he heard Kelly say, and a moment later a nervous "Mama?"

"Nice going," Adalind remarked with mild irritation. "Well, I guess we're going out to eat," Adalind said with a sigh. "Actually," she said after a moment of mulling it over. "that's okay. I didn't feel like fixing anything anyway."

"Sorry, Daddy," Diana said contritely. She had taken to addressing him as such over the last couple of weeks, testing her boundaries and Nick's, whether he considered himself a father to two, and the more they all settled into their new family dynamic the more he thought of her as his second child. He was doing everything for her that he was doing for his son.

"It's okay," Nick said reassuringly.

"Mama?"

"I'm here Kell-bell, you're safe, everything's fine," Adalind soothed.

"Isth dahk," Kelly replied with a touch of worry, and Nick picked him up. "Daddy isth dahk," Kelly repeated and Nick brushed a kiss against his son's head and handed him off to his mother.

"Mommy's got you. It's okay, we'll just go…out," Nick said.

"I said that already," Adalind retorted, and Nick suppressed a sigh.

 _One big happy family,_ Nick thought.

%%%%%%%

"So what did the papers say?" Nick asked Adalind as they were preparing for bed. They had gone to a pizza place for dinner and Adalind had tried to put on a brave face, but she had been mostly moody and short. Diana was back in the guest room, having grown comfortable and safe enough in the loft to sleep there without fear or worry, granting Nick his spot back beside Adalind. He was still a little uncomfortable having her so far from him and her mother should something happen, so he usually looked in on her and double checked the security in the loft at least twice, and was looking forward to moving into their new house where they would all be close enough together that he might not go crazy keeping track of everyone.

"He wants full custody," Adalind said, shrugging out of her shirt.

"You said that," Nick commented, watching her closely. "Is that the only reason why you're upset?"

"Do you need another?" she asked, slipping out of her bra, treating Nick to the glorious sight of her round, full breasts. It had been a few weeks since they had been intimate, and Nick swallowed and reminded himself his attention should be on other things. She slipped a T-shirt over her head, one of Nick's that fell below mid-thigh, nipples visible under the worn fabric and his hands ached to touch her and forget about everything for a while. She threw back the covers with an angry flick of her wrist and slipped into bed and he sobered.

"No, but it seems disproportionate to just wanting full custody. I mean, is that it, is there more to this?"

"Yes, he's alleging Diana is living in an unsafe environment and I'm an unfit mother to allow her to do so," Adalind said, and Nick turned from where he was unfastening his watch and looked at her incredulously.

"What? On what grounds?"

"I live with you, and you have a history of violent encounters and attacks at your residences," Adalind said, looking at him, and Nick felt anger surge.

"What?! And he hasn't? Are you kidding me?" Nick nearly shouted, and she shook her head. "Unbelievable," Nick said bitterly, turning back to the dresser and placing his watch on the top. He laid his badge next to it and set his gun on the nightstand, thought better of it with a curious a very mobile child in their home and stuck it under his pillow. He slipped under the covers beside her, fuming silently at the ceiling before turning to look at her.

"Are you worried he'll get what he wants," Nick asked her. "He's a cop, too, and he's had several violent encounters at home, also. The judge isn't going to grant him full custody based on that."

"No, but they may grant him joint custody," Adalind said, and Nick rolled on his side to face her.

"So she would live with us fifty percent of the time?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Maybe she lives with us during the week, and him on the weekends, or every other weekend, but likely he'll have equal say in decisions we make."

"You mean like stuff we've already made?"

"Yeah."

"So in other words he has the ability to totally derail all the arrangements we just made for her schooling if he doesn't like it?"

"Pretty much."

Nick rolled onto his back again with a sigh. There was a part of him that knew Renard had the right, and _should_ have the right, _should_ be involved in his daughter's upbringing but he was starting to see and understand Adalind's side of things more and more. Not to mention implying Adalind was unfit and that Nick's home was an unsafe environment. That burned a little, maybe because when he had live with Juliette it had pretty much been true, but since he and Adalind had lived at the loft they had had some concerns, but no outright attacks on their place. Nick wondered what would happen when they were back out in society, living in suburbia, exposed and at risk.

Not to mention, all this concerned Kelly as much as Diana, and like Nick was willing to put his own son at risk, much less Diana. He had worked hard to provide his family as much safety and security as possible, whatever the challenges as a cop and a Grimm. Did Renard honestly believe Diana was going to be any safer with him, and the kinds of people he knew? Hell his own family had tried to kill him. Repeatedly.

"Well, we'll just get someone well versed in family law and fight to keep her. They usually want a child to stay with the mother, anyway, so we've got that going for us. We've got Kelly as an example that his claim you're unfit is bogus, and there have been no incidents here in the two years we've lived here. All his claims can be refuted."

"You had previously shown more inclination with Sean's side of it. What changed?"

"Nothing really, other than him being a complete asshole to you the other day, and now trying to throw me under the bus." Nick let out a long sigh. "I do see his side of it. Maybe since I'm a father too. I would want contact with my child. If it were Kelly in this situation. I wouldn't want to be shut out."

"You're a different kind of father than he is," Adalind said quietly. "It all looks good and sounds good, and maybe he does have the best of intentions, but the reality of it is, he's more focused on gaining control and influence within the royal families, and he's going to do whatever he has to to make that happen, and that's going to mean sacrificing a meaningful relationship with Diana. She'll be set aside or put on the back burner until he needs her for something. It was like that weekend he was supposed to spend with her and she tells you that she spent it mostly with Elizabeth. Where was he?"

"Renard said the royals are in upheaval in Europe," Nick told her. "Something's going on that has them in a panic."

"When was this?"

"Earlier today when he called us into his office to talk about our latest case. I think he's been focused on that the last few weeks. Something in Munich—I've got to get ahold of Meisner or Trubel and see what they know at H.W."

"I wonder if this move to try to gain custody has to do with whatever he's planning to do about that," Adalind said.

"I don't know," Nick murmured, the thought also coming to him that the timing might not be so coincidental. He slid his hand over her face, thumb brushing against the cheekbone that Louis had broken months ago out of habit. "How long does it take them to decide custody?"

"Not usually very long unless there's extenuating circumstances. I did contact a friend who practices family law and she said they'll try to send it to mediation in order to avoid a knock-down drag-out battle for the sake of the children, or child, in this case, involved."

"Does she think we have a good case?"

"With what I could tell her? She's Kehrseite," Adalind said by way of explanation.

"Maybe we should see if we can find a Wesen lawyer that specializes in family law," Nick said.

"I don't know. Maybe Kehrseite is better," Adalind said. "She won't understand what Diana is and why anyone beyond Sean or me and you would be so interested in her, and maybe that's best for her safety. She thought we might be able to have primary physical custody with visitation every other weekend with Sean and a few weeks out of the year."

"Well, that's good news, isn't it? It means she lives with us eighty percent of the time."

"I'd rather she lived with us a hundred percent of the time," Adalind retorted.

"I know, but maybe a hundred percent of the time with us is not what Diana needs," Nick said quietly, thumb moving across Adalind's face. "Her powers are only going to become more pronounced as she reaches maturity and more unpredictable as she comes of age. Diana might need perspective from those who have gone through what she has."

"Nick, _I've_ gone through what she has and what she will or have you completely forgotten I was a hexenbiest, too." Adalind asked, pulling away.

"No, I haven't," Nick said with a sigh, "but you made the choice to give those up, permanently, and she may not want to or be able to make that same choice, at least not being so young. She may need someone who's like her to help her navigate through it."

"I am like her," Adalind insisted, "whether you want to see it or not."

"It's not a matter of whether I _want_ to see it, believe me Adalind, I'm more than aware of what you _used_ to be, but that's just it, you're not that anymore. Whether _you_ want to see it or not. But Renard and Elizabeth are, and I'm not trying to insult you or imply you're lacking in some area. I mean, I'm not going to be able to help her with any of that, and I know you'll help her where you can, but she may need that extra Hexenbiest insight, and Renard and his mother…I mean, I guess there are worse examples of Hexenbiests to look up to."

"You mean like me?" Adalind said, voice hard.

"No, that's not what I mean," Nick said.

"No? How many other Hexenbiests do you know?" Adalind asked him shortly.

"Your mother," Nick retorted, and she stiffened. "I'm sorry," Nick said, when Adalind rolled away from him and back to him. "You're right. I know nothing about growing up Hexenbiest and even less about girls."

"Obviously, because you're still talking."

"Fine, I am shutting up now. Goodnight," Nick said, risking his life and leaning over to placing a brief kiss on her temple before flopping down into his pillow and closing his eyes.

"You're right," Adalind murmured in the darkness after a few minutes of both listening to the clock on the nightstand tick away the time. "There are worse influences. It scares me sometimes," and Nick opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her. She rolled on her back. "How powerful she is. How powerful she will become. And I don't mean in that I think she will use it against me or try to hurt me, but…look at her a few weeks ago at the station, what she did. None of us were able to do anything to prevent it or counteract it. And I would welcome, maybe, more of Sean and his mother's side except I'm not sure that they're going to do much to try to temper it, and honestly I'm not sure how positive an influence they'll both be. You don't know Elizabeth. Just because she helped you regain your powers doesn't mean she's to be trusted. Neither is Sean. The biest within…it's a lot more powerful than you know in controlling your behavior and the types of decisions you make. Sean maybe has more control because he's only half Zauberbiest, but even he's susceptible to the power. She needs people who are going to be a strong influence for her to always make the right decision, Nick, the good decision. That's you, and Monroe, and Rosalee…your mom, when she was alive."

Nick rolled back onto his side to face her and slid his hand over her stomach. "And you," he said. "You've made some tough decisions, too, for the greater good." She looked at him and nodded after a moment.

"Maybe."

"Definitely," Nick said.

"I've also made some poor ones. Some bad ones that hurt people, good people, for no reason," she murmured and Nick closed his eyes, and slid over, covering the distance between them. His nose brushed against her cheek. "I tried to kill your aunt, and Hank, because I was in love with Sean and that's what he wanted me to do and I would have done anything for him. Did do anything for him."

His hand reached up to brush the side of her face, and he pressed his lips against her cheek, opening his eyes.

"Yes," he agreed, because what else could he say? There was no denying that fact, that ugly part of their relationship and her history. "But maybe that just gives your argument to her against that behavior more weight," he said.

"Maybe," she said quietly.

"Definitely," he replied, mouth finding hers. "Allow me to prove it," he whispered in her ear, sliding his body over hers.

%%%%%%%%%


	16. Chapter 16

Just to note: all the legalese/procedure I learned from really bad lawyer shows, so I apologize in advance for any errors there.

%%%%%%%%%

"Hey daddy!"

"Hi daddy!"

Nick looked up from the ipad Wu was showing them history of the vic on and caught sight of Diana and Kelly skipping towards him, Kelly at least doing an approximation of one, anyway.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" he asked, expecting a response from Diana, but she turned to Wu with an excited greeting.

"Hi Wu!"

"Hello," Wu said with a more tempered response, raising his eyebrow, as Kelly offered a "Wu-wu!" much in the manner of mimicking a train whistle. Wu rolled his eyes, and nodded. "Cadet Kelly," he greeted and Kelly grinned at him.

Obviously his children were in fine form today, and realized he was lumping Diana now in that category just as easily as she had lumped him in the "Daddy" category. The truth was he sort of liked the sound of it. His children. His wife, or soon to be. His family. It made it seem like his life was less empty and isolated than he had always felt growing up, and in the last few years where it seemed like everyone he had loved and called family had been stripped away from him cruelly. His aunt. His mother. Juliette.

Now his life seemed full. Happy. They were three days away from closing on their new home, the date set for this coming Friday, and an afternoon away from their first mediation with Renard regarding custody of Diana. Nick glanced behind him at Renard's office, darkened and empty. He and Nick were still doing an excellent example of avoiding one another, but Nick was still privately stewing about some of the allegations Renard had lobbed his way and the less contact he had with the captain right now was probably the better. He let Hank handle most discussions or updates about cases they were working on and though Hank and Wu seemed to have noticed something amiss, only Wu had commented on it more than once and Nick had brushed his concern aside coldly.

"Where's your mom?" Nick asked in concern when Adalind didn't appear after a few seconds behind them.

"Talking to daddy," Diana said, and Nick bit back a grimace. Diana was watching him closely, as she weaved a figure eight between Nick and Wu, and Nick was at least aware enough to notice that Diana had picked up on the tension that arose whenever the subject of her father came up. She didn't need to be put in the middle any more than she was so Nick made sure to school his features into a more neutral expression and even managed a smile.

"She said we could go and see you," Diana added starting another lap, and Nick nodded.

"Of course," he said, watching her weave another revolution around them. "What have you guys been up to?" Nick asked, picking Diana up before she made him and Wu dizzy.

"Planning my birthday party daddy," she said and Nick caught Wu raising his eyebrow in surprise at her appellation.

"Is that so?" Nick said, ignoring the look, Kelly circling beside him still _Wu-wuing._ "Kelly, inside voice," Nick said and was relieved when Kelly actually complied. "And what have you decided?" he asked.

"Pink balloons and pink ribbons," she told him, and Nick nodded seriously.

"Sure," he said.

"And mommy and auntie Rosalee said I can have a pink cake," she told him excitedly.

"Naturally," he replied. She and Adalind were quite the planners whenever the situation called for it, so the fact they were once again plotting a birthday party together wasn't all that shocking.

"And Lots and lots of sparkles."

"Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less." Nick said, planting a kiss on her cheek and setting her down. She grinned at him and resumed her figure eights. Kelly held up his arms and Nick suppressed a sigh and picked him up too. "And how about you? What have you been doing?" he asked his son and Kelly smiled at his father and chattered something that Nick didn't quite catch.

"He's been helping us pack," Diana offered, and Nick raised his eyebrow in surprise again at his son.

"Really?" he asked disbelievingly. His help was well-meaning but rarely helpful. And as far as packing for the move, it was much more likely he was unpacking everything they placed in boxes.

"Yeah," Diana replied.

"Wonders never cease," Nick said to Kelly, and planted a kiss on his son's cheek and set him back down on the ground.

"Sergeant Wu are you coming to my party?" Diana asked him and Wu's look of surprise was priceless.

"Uhh…" Wu said, clearly flabbergasted, "I—"

"I think Sergeant Wu might have other plans," Nick told Diana and she leveled a flat stare at him, not unlike one of Adalind's whenever he told her something she didn't want to hear.

"It's my birthday," Diana told Wu. "And I've never had a party."

"I—uh, sure, I guess," Wu said uncertainly, glancing at Nick and then Diana. She smiled, pleased, and then gasped when she spotted Renard striding into the precinct.

"Daddy!" she said, skipping up to him and he stopped short, Nick catching sight of his expression before Renard realized his daughter was before him. He seemed distracted and agitated and Nick thought he and Adalind had probably gotten into it again.

"Daddy are you coming to my party Saturday?" she asked him and Nick cringed. Likely when Adalind had suggested a party it was with the specific idea that Renard wouldn't be a part of it. "Nick and Sergeant Wu and Kelly and mommy and Rosalee and Monroe are all coming. And Trubel," and Nick raised an eyebrow at this. "And Meisner. And Hank! He should come, too." She said to Nick before looking back at Renard, Renard glanced up at Nick, and then Wu before looking back down at Diana. Wu gave a nervous laugh and Nick turned to face Renard.

 _Yeah, you know,_ Nick thought, _just about everybody else who knows who Diana is that has been invited before you._ Yeah, he didn't think he'd feel all that pleased either to find out he was the last to know about his child's birthday party.

"What?" Renard asked her.

"My birthday party. Are you coming?" she asked him in an impatient tone.

"Birthday party?" Renard asked and then glared accusingly at Nick as though he had been withholding this information from him. Nick frowned and strode over to Diana and Renard.

"Yeah, it's my birthday Tuesday and mommy said I could have a birthday party Saturday at the new house."

"New house?" Renard parroted, looking up at Nick in surprise, and Nick met his gaze unflinchingly. "You're having a birthday party…at your new house…Saturday," Renard repeated, and Diana nodded enthusiastically.

"You should come," she insisted. "Nick will be there," she added, and Nick wondered if she was aware of the fuel she was throwing on the fire.

"Diana, I'm not sure—" Nick began, but Renard cut him off.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss my own daughter's birthday," Renard said in a clipped tone, a strained smile at Diana, a dark look at Nick. "I'll be there," he promised and she caught sight of Adalind coming into the precinct and skipped over to her mother to tell her the news. Renard flashed one more dark look at Adalind before hissing to her, "I'll see you at the mediation," and disappeared into his office.

Nick raised his eyebrows at Adalind when she met his gaze over Diana's head and glanced over to where Renard had disappeared to with a frown.

%%%%%%%%%

"I'm not comfortable with having Renard at Diana's birthday party. It's a recipe for disaster," Nick remarked, as they took a seat on the bench outside the room where they would conduct the first mediation meeting.

"No kidding," Adalind replied, "but it's too late now, she already invited him, and she's fully expecting him to be there."

"I definitely don't think we should have it at the new house," Nick told her, and she looked at him as she took a seat beside him.

"Why, because of Renard?"

"Renard, Meisner, everyone. It's a risk. I'd prefer if no one knew where we lived for a while," he said, _if ever,_ and she looked at him.

"Meisner probably already knows," Adalind pointed out and Nick frowned. "Are you going to be like how you were with the loft when we first moved there?" she asked him.

"How I was?"

"Yeah, secretive and paranoid?" she said, and Nick looked at her.

"Hey I was secretive and paranoid because yours and Kelly's safety was the most important thing to me and I wasn't about to risk it for anyone or anything. I'd had enough taken from me," he commented with a touch of bitterness. "And that paranoia has kept you both alive all this time," he added.

"I know," she said in a soft voice, sliding her hand through Nick's and squeezing his fingers. The metal of her engagement ring dug into his skin and he shook their entwined hands before him before pressing a kiss to her knuckles and releasing it. She looked at the ring on her finger again, as though she could hardly believe it and smiled at him.

"It's beautiful," she said again, for the tenth time since he had placed it on her finger last night, and he smiled.

"Finest cubic zirconia money can buy," he said seriously and she gave him a look.

"You did good," she replied in a dry tone, watching as the light caught the diamond. "And you did good keeping us safe. We won't have the birthday party at the new house," she promised. "I don't want to risk my family's safety, either." He grabbed her hand again and threaded his fingers through hers and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Diana was totally enamored with my ring," she remarked looking at it again, hand still entwined with Nick's. "She's totally enamored with you, too," she added and Nick glanced at her and shook his head. "She is," Adalind insisted. "Takes after me, I guess. Apparently we have a weakness for handsome Grimms."

"That could be dangerous," Nick replied, looking down at the tiles. "For you especially," and she quirked an eyebrow at him. "The things I'm going to do to you when we all get settled again," he mentioned conversationally in a low tone and she grinned, her other hand covering theirs and he turned back to her with a flash of a seductive smile of his own.

"Don't tease," she said coyly and Nick smiled wider, recognizing the reference.

"I'm not, believe me. It's long overdue," he added, and she bumped his shoulder playfully and then sobered immediately when her eyes caught sight of something over his head. He looked up and met Renard's eyes, glancing wordlessly between Nick and Adalind as he took a seat on the bench across from them. Adalind straightened but kept her hands wrapped around Nick's and slid back on the bench until her back was touching the seatback. Her shoulders still brushed against Nick and he met Renard's cool eyes for a long moment before turning his attention back to Adalind when she muttered something quietly into his ear.

"Surprised Elizabeth isn't here with him," she had said, but the mediator stepped out into the hallway before Nick could respond.

"Mediation for Diana Renard?" she said to them and they all stood as Adalind nodded. "This way," the mediator indicated and they followed after her, single file, Nick holding the door open for Adalind, meeting Renard's eyes with another dark stare before taking a seat beside her at a long teak conference table. Renard took a seat across from him, and their mediator took a seat at the head of the table. Nick ran his hands over his tie as Adalind leaned forward.

"Okay, this is mediation for a custody agreement for Diana Renard, aged…six," she said, checking her notes. "Mediation is recommended by the court and is in the best interests of the child that you can all come to an agreement without having to get the court involved in a custody battle. If, for some reason, we cannot come to an agreement that is beneficial to the child than we will be forced to have the matter decided by a judge, and you will present evidence as to your argument. But, I am hoping that as we are all adults with the best interests of a child, your daughter, in mind that we will not come to that. My name is Leslie Ashton and I am your mediator." She looked at Adalind and picked up her pen.

"You are the child's mother, Adalind Schade?" she confirmed and Adalind nodded.

"Yes."

"And the child's father?" she asked, but she looked at Renard expectantly.

"Sean Renard," Renard confirmed.

"And you are?" she asked Nick pointedly.

"Nicholas Burkhardt, I'm Adalind's fiancé," he said and caught Renard's look of surprise out of the corner of his eye as he watched Leslie write the information down. Leslie caught it too.

"Recent engagement?"

"About a month now," Adalind said and Nick nodded.

"The child lives with you currently?" she asked Nick and Adalind and they both nodded.

"Yes, also for about a month now," Adalind said.

"Has she ever lived with the father?"

"No," Renard said.

"And Ms. Schade, what do you do for a living?"

"I'm an attorney," Adalind said.

"And where at?"

"Berman, Rautbort and associates. I'm a partner in the firm there."

"How long have you worked there?"

"About a year. I left the firm a few years ago for an opportunity overseas, and I went back to work last year after my son turned one," she said.

"You have other children?"

"Yes, just our son," she replied.

"And you Mr. Burkhardt, do you have any other children beyond your son that might be living or staying in your household from time to time?"

"No," Nick said.

"Mr. Renard, do you have any other children beyond the daughter in question?"

"No," Renard said, shaking his head. She scribbled something else.

"And how about you? What do you do for a living?"

"I'm captain of the Portland Police Central Precinct," he said.

"And how long have you worked for the Portland police?"

"Twenty-four years," Renard said.

"Mr. Burkhardt, what is it you do for a living?"

Nick glanced involuntarily at Renard. "I'm a detective for the Portland P.D., stationed at central precinct," he said, leaning forward and linking his hands on the table. Leslie glanced at him and then Renard, expressionless, and looked back at her papers.

"How long have you worked there?"

"I've been with the Portland P.D. for thirteen years and at central precinct for eight."

"Do you work with Mr. Renard, then?"

"Yes, he's my captain," Nick said, glancing at Renard again.

"That must be interesting," Leslie commented, but moved on to her next topic before anyone could take offense.

"Ms. Schade, were you and Mr. Renard ever married?"

"No," Adalind said definitively.

"How long were you two involved?"

"For about a year, but weren't really involved by the time Diana was born, it was…it was sort of on and off again at that point, and I was living overseas."

"Where?"

"Vienna, Austria," Adalind replied.

"How long have you and Mr. Burkhardt been involved?"

"Two years," Adalind said, "but we've known each other for about seven," she added, and Leslie nodded.

"Mr. Renard, are you involved with anyone?"

"What business is that of yours?" And Nick leaned back, noting Renard's discomfort with the interest.

"If I'm helping you to determine a custody arrangement that is mutually beneficial to your child, then I need to know who that child will be coming into contact with."

"No, I'm not involved with anyone," Renard said, and Nick narrowed his eyes. Not a lie, necessarily but Nick doubted it was the full truth.

"When did you move back to the states?"

"A couple of weeks after Diana was born," Adalind said.

"And the child has been living with you ever since?"

"No, it was decided the child would be better off being raised by a…a family member, due to some concerns we had at the time with some people who knew Sean," Adalind said bitterly, "and I haven't seen her since until a month ago."

Leslie stopped writing and looked at Adalind for a moment, and then Renard.

"Was this in regards to some police investigation?" Renard stared at Leslie, before looking at Adalind, eyes meeting Nick's beyond her.

"Yes, we had some credible evidence that Diana might be at risk so we acted with extreme caution to protect her." Adalind gave him a flat look.

"Are you or loved ones often at risk in your line of work?"

"I don't do much field work anymore. The detectives investigate and handle cases, and therefore come into contact more often with people or situations that might raise their risk."

"Is that true, Detective Burkhardt? Have you found your job to be risky for those involved with you?"

Well, shit. Because the short answer of that was yes. The long answer was mostly due to the fact he was a Grimm investigating and involved with Wesen cases. He narrowed his eyes at Renard.

"Sometimes," Nick said, "in years past, though there have been no threats to my family related to any of my cases in the last two years."

"What about Louis Parker?"

"Who's Louis Parker?"

"He was a lawyer who worked with Adalind at her law firm that took an unhealthy interest in my fiancé. He kidnapped her and assaulted her, but he was caught and imprisoned for his crime," Nick stated coldly, glaring at Renard for bringing it up.

"Your home prior to Adalind was broken into, or the scenes of violent crimes no less than seven times in four years, including three calls for shots fired." Renard reminded him coolly.

"Yeah, two of those were at you!"

"You shot your police captain," Leslie asked him, slightly stunned. "Twice?"

"No, he was shot, once, by a rogue FBI agent when he came to my house about a case while I was at a wedding, and before that…my girlfriend, or I guess, ex-girlfriend at that time, shot at him, but no charges were ever filed."

"Why did the girlfriend shoot at your captain?" Leslie asked him.

"Ex-girlfriend. They were sort of involved at the time, and I really don't know, you'd have to ask her. She never said specifically what he did."

"Your fiancé and the captain were involved and your prior girlfriend and the captain were involved, too," she repeated, and Nick darted his eyes to her. Renard frowned and glared at her too.

"Yes, they had an affair," Nick affirmed.

"Please, it was a little bit more complicated than that and I never slept with her while all that was going on," Renard reminded him, and Nick looked at him sharply.

"Did you sleep with her any other time?" he asked, and Renard narrowed his eyes.

"We're getting off topic," Renard said.

"Yes, we are," Adalind agreed, glancing at Nick worriedly, and he reminded himself he wasn't involved with Juliette anymore and it shouldn't matter, but suddenly it did. Renard had slept with Juliette. There had only been brief pockets of time when she and Nick had not been involved together outside of the whole coma/cat scratch incident, and Nick wondered which one or ones Renard had leapt at the chance to sleep with her with. Remembered Kenneth's remark about Juliette sleeping with him, and Nick pondered if it had been during that time, when Nick was grappling with an expectant Adalind, and Juliette a Hexenbiest—it wouldn't have turned off Renard, her being that—and Nick shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. Unbelievable.

"I've responded to several 911 calls at your residences, too, so don't think you can imply Diana is any more at risk living with me than she would be with you."

"Gentlemen," Leslie warned. "Ms. Schade have you had any other threats against you prior to the ones described?"

"One, seven years ago. Two lawyers were murdered at my firm in connection to a case we all worked. Nick was one of the detectives assigned to protect me, and as you can see, he did a good job."

Leslie glanced at Nick. "Is that where you two met?"

"Formally? Yes," Nick replied. "I had seen her a couple of times before."

"In the month Diana has been with you, what arrangements have you made for her?"

"Well, Nick and I have found a school that will suit her needs, we think. She's very advanced for her age—both my children are, really—and we've arranged care for her until Nick or I can pick her up after work each night."

"Monroe and Rosalee?" Renard said with a snort. "And what school? This is the first I'm hearing of it."

"Who are Monroe and Rosalee?"

"Friends of ours," Nick said with a hard look at Renard.

"And no," Adalind added coldly, "Dr. Ansheimler has graciously agreed to place Diana where my son goes to daycare, and he has thrived in the environment."

"Yes, I've heard excellent things about Dr. Ansheimler and her contributions to early child development and care. Tell me about the school."

"Yes, tell me about the school," Renard said pointedly, and Leslie looked at him.

"You didn't consult with the child's father about her education?" Leslie asked Adalind.

"No, Nick and I made arrangements for her education and care," Adalind said.

"Nick is not her father," Renard bit out.

"He might as well be," Adalind retorted hotly. "He does everything for her."

"Because you won't let me!" Renard exploded. "You haven't allowed me _any_ contact with my daughter since that weekend three weeks ago."

"You mean the weekend where you spent almost no time with her, and this according to Diana. You let your mother take care of her while you were doing whatever else you deemed more important than your daughter who you hadn't seen in years."

"My mother has just as much right, if not more, to spend time with Diana than Nick does as your baby daddy slash boyfriend slash fiancé, or whatever the hell you want to call yourselves now," Renard shouted.

"He treats her as though she's his own! She loves him. She even calls him daddy."

"Does she?" Leslie asked, looking at Nick and Adalind. Nick shrugged uncomfortably, carefully not looking at Renard, and nodded.

"I think of her as one of my children," Nick admitted, rubbing at a mark on the wood. "She fits in really well with our family, better than I expected. She's my son's half-sister. I do everything for her that I do for him. She understands Renard is her father, that she's _his_ daughter. Her calling me daddy is more of a…title," Nick settled on. "Like detective or captain," he added.

Renard scoffed loudly.

"How would you categorize what your relationship with your daughter is like?" Leslie asked Renard, turning to him.

"Nonexistent. I didn't even know my own child is having a birthday party until she shows up at the station, to see _you_ , and happens to ask me to go. If she hadn't invited me, you would have never said a thing to me about it, either one of you!"

"When is the birthday party?" Leslie interjected, looking at Adalind.

"Saturday," Adalind said, frowning at Renard.

"You've had no phone calls, or any other contact of visits with your daughter besides the one weekend?"

"No. I had an evening with her, supervised by her mother, a few days after she first returned to Portland—to us—but nothing since then beyond the weekend and yesterday when she happened to drop by the station."

"Based on what I'm hearing, there has been no effort to establish a visitation schedule or the opportunity for Diana's biological father to spend time with her."

"He had an opportunity three weeks ago! He blew it."

" _Biological_ father? I'm her _only_ father!" Sean retorted. "And I work, Adalind, being captain of a precinct requires a lot of time spent not only conferring with detectives, but the mayor, the press, and other agencies. I don't see you holding it against Nick every time he has a late night or gets called in on a case!"

"He spends time with his _family_ , Sean. They matter to him. He doesn't blow off his son, or your daughter no matter how busy he is or how tired he is. He's a good father to them. You just want to look like one, you don't actually want to put the effort in to being one! Diana deserves better than someone who's only invested in her because of what it can do for you and your political aspirations! She deserves the chance to be a child! We can give that to her."

"From what you've told me her life or health is not in danger, any more so than it would be with you or your fiancé, so there is no reason for her to have had such limited contact with her father."

"No reason? There's plenty of reasons!" Adalind exclaimed. "Haven't you been listening? Just because he's not outright abusing her doesn't mean he's taking care of her or giving her what she needs."

"Excuse me?" Renard shouted.

"What were you doing that weekend, huh? When you had her? What was more important than spending time with her, getting to know her?" Leslie looked away from Adalind to Renard, waiting for his answer.

Renard's expression grew dark, guarded. "You're not the only one who is trying to keep her safe," he said. "I had some concerns to attend to that unfortunately came up while she was visiting, but she did get to spend time with my mother and start learning a little bit of my side of the family."

"Concerns, what concerns?" Adalind said sharply.

"I took care of it. She's safe," Renard replied, and Nick furrowed his brow, wondering what Renard might be referring to. The royals? The weeks of not talking, not sharing information suddenly didn't seem wise.

"Similar to the same concern as before?" Nick asked him and Leslie looked at him and then Renard, possibly detecting a more specific question in that vaguely worded one. Renard stared at him for a long moment.

"I took care of it," he repeated. "She's safe," Renard told Leslie. Leslie sighed and looked back at Adalind.

"Ms. Schade, what is your hope with regards to Diana's custody?"

"We have sole custody," Adalind shot back. "All of Diana's needs are and will continue to be met, and we feel that we can provide her the best chance for emotional stability and well-being, and limiting her contact with your side of the family is key among it."

"Excuse me? Over my dead body," Renard said, and Adalind gave him a squinty-eyed smirk, considering. Nick subtly kicked her under the table.

"Mr. Renard what is your hope with regards to Diana's custody?"

"Full custody."

"You're not going to be involved in her life as a full-time parent, and you know it. She'll be raised by someone else! Why can't that someone else be us! How is being passed off to strangers, or your mother, better than being raised and loved by me? How is that best for Diana?" Adalind demanded.

"How is it best for Diana that you keep her from me, her father?"

She opened her mouth to offer another retort when Nick sat up and touched her arm. She glanced at him, and shut her mouth with a snap when he subtly shook his head. She took a deep breath and looked at Renard, who was looking suspiciously between her and Nick.

"We would be prepared to concede sole custody to primary physical and legal custody. Diana would live with us during the week and every other weekend, except for two weeks out of the year." Renard snorted in disbelief. "It would allow you time to spend with Diana and still…be you," Adalind said flatly.

Renard shook his head. "No."

"Sean! Realistically, you're never going to spend time with her. You're not going to be a normal father, who's home every night and tucks his child into bed and reads her a story and goes to her…her dance recital! You have too many other commitments that you can't and won't give up!"

"Oh, but Nick will, right? Nick will do all that?"

"He already does! He's good for her. He can help give her the support and love she needs. You know as well as I do you're not always going to be given the opportunity!"

"No," Renard said stubbornly.

"You say you love her, and that you want to do what's best for her. You did that once, you made the hard decision. You can make it again! It's the right decision, Sean, deep down you know it."

"I'm not going to listen to this anymore. What happens next?" He asked Leslie, and Nick sighed.

"Mr. Renard, going forward, until an agreement is reached between you, or barring that, a judgment is made by the court, it's my recommendation to the court that Diana will remain with her mother and have visitation with you every Wednesday night and every other weekend, effective the following Wednesday after her birthday. I will tell you, Mr. Renard, that if this goes to court, that the judge almost always decides in favor of keeping the child with the mother. That means your daughter's physical custody _will_ likely reside with Ms. Schade and Mr. Burkhardt. You have not satisfied your allegation that Ms. Schade is unfit, or that her residence is unsafe."

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Feedback nurtures story ideas. Just saying.


	17. Chapter 17

AN: Thank you to all the feedback. I really appreciate it. Been busy with work so hope to respond to some of your comments shortly!

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It deteriorated from there, really. Another meeting was set for the following week, direction was given to Nick and Adalind to allow Renard to attend Diana's party, along with a reminder that they were all adults, Diana needed to be put first, and that it was to everyone's advantage if they could work something out without having to take it to court.

Fat chance, Nick thought. Adalind was beyond irritated, and Nick was feeling less than cooperative, too. Regardless, they only had a few days to get over it and assume an air of nonchalance for the sake of Diana. The party had been moved to a privately rented banquet room at a local kids place.

Fortunately, Adalind and Nick had the move to help keep their minds focused on something else and not on every dig Renard seemed determined to dish out, up to and including denying Nick time off to help with the move. He had been forced to enlist Monroe's help, and Hank had volunteered his, and over the course of two stressful evenings and one Saturday morning they had managed to get most of their things to their new home.

Nick wiped his forehead with his sleeve, and accepted the beer Rosalee held out to him.

"That everything?" she asked, and he nodded, taking a long pull from the bottle.

"For now," he said. He glanced around the great room, looking for his children when Rosalee pointed out the patio doors. He spotted Adalind, Kelly, and Diana playing out in the yard, looking like they were involved in a game of tag or touch football, though the ball Kelly was carrying wasn't the right shape.

Nick opened the doors and stepped out, noting the frantic giggling coming from Diana, Kelly, and Adalind, who straightened when she caught sight of Nick. Kelly caught sight of him, too, and came charging over, obviously thinking his father would protect him or maybe solidarity with having another male on his side.

"There's my boy," Nick said, hefting him up and grinning. Kelly returned the smile looking behind him at his mother and sister. Diana ran up to him also, and he scooped her up, too. "There's my girl," he added and she laughed happily, and Nick leaned over Adalind, lips hovering over her face, as he said, "and there's my woman."

She smacked him playfully on the shoulder and he planted a kiss on her lips and let the children slide out of his arms.

"Fiancé," he tried. "Mother of my children? Reason for being?"

"All of the above," she said, and he nodded. "You all done?"

"For now," Nick said. "All the big stuff's in," and he looked back at the patio when he heard Monroe groan, Hank stepping out with him, cracking his back with a grimace. "The kids' stuff. There's still some boxes left at the loft. We can get them later," and she nodded. "What time's the party?"

"Five O'clock," she replied. "Rosalee and I can get some things put away and set up in the kids' rooms before we have to get ready."

"I'm going to finish my beer, and then I'm going to take a shower."

"We done?" Hank asked him, a note of hope in his voice.

"Yeah," Nick said and Monroe sagged in relief.

"Thanks guys," Adalind said, patting Monroe's arm as she and Rosalee headed back into the house.

"Ohh, my back," Monroe said collapsing on the grass. "Hey! Wait! No fair, guys!" Monroe screeched when Kelly and Diana attacked, collapsing on top of him with another fit of giggles.

"We got Mo-mo!" Kelly shouted. "Mo-mo you're it."

"Hey, hey, guys! A little help here!"

"You're good," Hank said.

"You'll be fine," Nick confirmed. "Another beer?" he asked Hank.

"Sure."

%%%%%%%%

"It's the birthday girl," Nick said when Diana bounced down the stairs and flounced up to him. She was dressed in a sparkly, of course, hot pink tunic and black tights, her blonde hair pulled back with a glittery headband.

"Are you ready for your party?" he asked her and she nodded excitedly. "Adalind!" he shouted up the stairs. "Let's go!"

"What do they have at birthday parties?" Diana asked him, pirouetting on the wood floor, glancing at him before looking down at her feet.

 _Other children_ , Nick thought, but she and Kelly were going to be the only ones there. Kind of a disappointment for a child's birthday party but she didn't know any other children and Nick and Adalind had still been cautious about acclimating her to anyone, _especially_ children, who didn't know or understand her nature, particularly when it was still unclear how much control Diana had over her other-worldly tendencies.

"Oh, balloons, and cake, and ice cream," Nick said.

"Did you have a birthday party?" she asked him.

"When I was little," he nodded. He could vaguely remember having one for his eighth or ninth birthday. His father had bought him a baseball bat, a Louisville slugger like they used in the big leagues. He had had to leave it behind when his mom packed him off to go stay, what turned out to be permanently, with his Aunt Marie. He thought back on his dad, remembering the games he used to take Nick to, the Sundays of catch they played. There wasn't much he remembered about his father now, almost a quarter of century after his death. Could barely recall what he looked like, and had few photos of him. He hadn't taken any with him when he had packed, not expecting to never see his parents again, and his aunt had had few, and less and less as they picked up and moved frequently. He felt grief grip him, long past and pointless now, as he reflected he could barely remember a man that had helped bring him into this world and spent twelve years raising him and loving him, was instrumental in shaping him into the man he would become, though he thought he was more like his mother than father. Perhaps that "Dudley do-rightness" as Adalind called it was what he had learned from his father. Empathy. The shades of grey he could see the world in, not so quick to categorize everything he encountered into distinct segments of black and white.

He felt Diana brush against his legs as she circled around him and he came back to himself, managing a weak smile at the haloed eyes that stared up at him in concern. He heard Kelly, and glanced up at the stairs to see Kelly and Adalind descending.

"Ready?" she asked him, eyes narrowing in concern on him as well.

He nodded.

%%%%%%%%%

"Renard's here," Monroe whispered as he came to stand next to Nick. "He brought his mother with him."

"Great," Nick muttered, eyes searching for Adalind and Diana. Diana had been bouncing around the room, chasing Kelly periodically, soliciting some of the adults to join in a couple of games with her. She seemed happy, the center of attention, but Nick couldn't help thinking how much more enjoyable she would probably find it with some friends more her own age. He hoped she was able to adapt enough to have friendships, but already he knew her life was going to be difficult in that respect.

He caught sight of Diana on the far end of the room, working her charm on Hank and Wu, whom she apparently convinced to join her in a game of some sort, although Nick couldn't figure which one. She was adorned with a pink sparkly party hat, as were Wu and Hank and most of the other patrons, and she caught sight of Nick and skipped over to him with a second thought.

"Daddy, mommy said you can't have any cake unless you're wearing your hat," she said seriously, with a slight tone of reproach.

"I don't have one," Nick replied, as he had somehow, through no special avoidance tactics on his own, managed to miss where they had been handed out. Kelly, he noted, was taking no chances with that threat and was wearing his, to the surprise of Nick. He looked festive in the glittery hot pink pointed hat, situated well off center, and Nick reached out a hand to straighten it up, eliciting a vocal concern from Kelly. He gave his son a wry grin, the meaning and reason for which were totally lost on Kelly, and Monroe for that matter who gave him a questioning look out of the side of his eye. Nick shook his head.

"I'll get you one," Diana promised and he watched her skip off and almost collided with Renard.

"Hi daddy," she chirped and Renard reeled back and smiled. "It's my birthday party," she told him, "you need a hat or you won't get any cake," and she skipped off again before Renard could get his bearings or understand quite what she was talking about.

"Monroe," Renard said, and Monroe raised his drink in salute, eyes nervously glancing at Nick out of the side of them.

"Nick," Renard said coolly.

"Captain," Nick replied in the same tone and then moved away, seeking out Adalind on the other side of the room.

Diana found him about ten minutes later, as he was kneeling down drying off Kelly and explaining why it was wrong to dump his police car into the punch bowl. He looked at her as Kelly used the distraction to wriggle out of Nick's grasp, and he let his son go with a sigh and turned his attention to the hat Diana was holding out.

"Here's your hat," she said, and he accepted it with thanks and slapped it over his face, the cone sticking out much like the carrot nose on a snowman. Kelly began to giggle and Diana huffed a laugh.

"That's not how you wear it," she said.

"You sure?"

"You wear it on your head," she told him primly.

"Like this?" and he moved it where the cone jutted like a horn from his ear.

"No," she and Kelly both said, and he grinned. Diana grabbed the pointy end and slid it around to the top of his head.

"Like that," she said, and Nick grabbed the kids suddenly and yanked them to him in a hug.

"If you're sure," he said disbelievingly as they squirmed and giggled. It was nice to hear children's laughter, to see Diana happy, his son happy.

"Daddy," he heard one of their muffled voices say—Diana's, he thought, and he let go with another smile at them and watched his son emulate his behavior by pulling the cone over his face. It covered most of his head and he bobbled drunkenly before losing his balance with a cry of surprise.

"Be careful," Nick warned him with a grin, and Diana gave him another one of Adalind's looks. He scooped her up and planted a kiss on her cheek, her face scrunching against the feel of the scruff of his beard and he stood, holding her close to him, her arms around his neck.

"Put me down, daddy," she told him, and Nick shook his head.

"Nope," Nick said, and he spotted Adalind giving him an apprehensive look, and he headed over that way. As Nick was mostly carrying her sideways against him, Diana leaned her head back, rather like she was on the monkey bars and spotted her mother and grinned, who gave her daughter and Nick a mock-frown.

"Excuse me, coming through!" he barked in the tone of voice he used on onlookers at crimes scenes. "Police officer! Coming through," he said weeding through the group, and spotted Renard and Elizabeth out of the corner of his eye but he ignored them. "Police officer!" Nick barked pointedly at Wu when he blocked his path, and Wu held up his hands in acquiescence and moved aside.

"That's right, coming through people." He said and Diana squirmed and giggled uncontrollably in his arms.

"Ma'am! Ma'am," he said to Adalind when he reached her and she looked up at him with wide eyes. "Is this your daughter?"

"Yes. What seems to be the problem, officer?"

He set Diana on her feet, still a pink, glittery mass of giggly, and turned to Adalind.

"This little girl is celebrating a birthday soon."

"Yes, she is," Adalind confirmed, looking at Diana and biting down a smile.

"And I understand you've decided to throw a party," Nick continued.

"That's true," Adalind said.

"A party with no cake," Nick said critically, leaning over the banquet table, scrutinizing the contents. Adalind rolled her eyes. "Ma'am, ma'am," he snapped, snapping his fingers at her and Adalind narrowed her eyes. He would undoubtedly pay for that at a later date.

"We have punch," she offered politely, "would like me to get you one," she added with a bit of bite and Nick looked at Diana and shook his head.

"That's okay your brother tested it out with his car a few moments earlier," and Adalind and Rosalee gasped, horrified while Monroe took a look at his drink and then set it down. Adalind levelled a glare at her son. Or tried to, until she caught sight of him.

"Not safe to drink and drive," Wu piped up.

"No, it is not." Nick agreed solemnly. He pointed to his son. "As you can see, that happens. Sir," he said to his son, who was still trying to right his party hat where it didn't cover at least some of his face. "Sir, that kind of behavior is not appropriate," Nick said in a serious voice when his son nearly stumbled into one of the banquet tables before Rosalee saved him and picked him up. She righted the hat and placed a warm kiss on Kelly's cheek, shaking her head and they both looked back at Nick.

"Daddy I wan cakth!" he said plainly, catching sight of his father.

"So do I," Nick said, turning back to Adalind.

"Are you here to arrest me because there's no cake?" she asked him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"If I have to," Nick replied, and she narrowed her eyes at him and he caught sight of a seductive glint in her eyes before she tempered it with a shocked expression. "I'm hoping if won't come to that." He glanced down at Diana. "For the girl's sake," he added magnanimously and Diana grinned.

"Right," Adalind intoned. "I'll have you know I'm being falsely accused. Of course I have cake at my daughter's birthday party," she sniffed. Nick approached the food table again, pointedly looked over its contents again.

"I don't see it," he said, challenging her.

"My god, so you're where your son gets it from," Adalind muttered.

"Kelly do you see cake?" Nick asked him, and Kelly perked up.

"I wan cake!" Kelly said.

"Kelly doesn't see cake," Nick told her. Adalind rolled her eyes again in annoyance and caught Rosalee's amused eye. Adalind shook her head with an expression that distinctly said, _don't encourage him._ "Hank you see cake?"

"Nope," Hank said.

"Hank doesn't see cake either. Wu?"

"That would be a negative," Wu replied, and Adalind cocked her head in annoyance and uncrossed her arms.

"You're going to be wearing cake in a minute," she said, glaring at Nick, and he smiled. "And besides, we can't possibly have cake until we sing happy birthday," Adalind added, looking at her daughter who was fairly thrumming with excitement.

"I wan cake," Kelly whined again.

"Me too!" Diana chimed.

"Then you better tell your dad to start singing," Adalind told her, and Nick was reminded that Renard was with them, that Diana might not know which dad Adalind was referring to. Renard had yet to interact or otherwise make his presence known with Diana in any way that he had seen. Then again, Nick had been monopolizing all her attention. Perhaps it wasn't wise to do so, in light of the battle for custody they were currently embroiled in.

"We need Mo-mo and Aunt Rosalee to join in too," Adalind added. "And Hank and Wu and…everyone else," she added with only a slight touch of frost in her tone.

They all started singing, and Adalind brought out the cake, a single lit candle, representing the first birthday Diana was celebrating with them, rather than the confusing matter of her age, real and perceived.

"You have to make a wish and blow out the candle," Adalind instructed, and met Nick's eyes while Diana leaned over the cake. She swept Diana's hair back and a few minutes later Kelly was devouring his slice of cake, as were the rest of the adults. Nick took the opportunity to escape outside with his after a peculiar encounter with Elizabeth, while Diana and Adalind were busy. He sat on top of a concrete barrier wall and ate a couple bites of cake, before he sighed quietly and looked up.

"You're very good with Diana, and children in general."

"Look, I'm not looking to get into with you tonight."

"Neither am I," Renard said.

"Good, then go back inside, enjoy your daughter's company, and let me eat my cake in peace."

"Kind of hard to top that," Renard said and Nick stabbed his fork into his slice of strawberry cake (pink, naturally).

"Well, you're going to have to try, and that means you're going to actually have to spend some time with her," Nick bit out. Renard took a seat next to him on the concrete wall barrier and Nick stood to leave.

"Nick," Renard said, and Nick tensed his jaw and turned around after a minute.

"What?"

"How often do you get the chance to relax and enjoy your life?" Renard asked him, looking as though he really wanted to know the answer.

"How often do you?" Nick returned sarcastically.

"Not very. I suspect the same's true for you. You seem to be really taken with being a father, spending time with your children. Lighthearted. A side of you I don't think I've ever seen."

"Yeah, well, robbery/homicide and being a Grimm isn't some song and dance," Nick said, looking away. "I love my son and I wish I got to spend more time with him like that."

"And my daughter?"

"Yeah, her too," Nick said, looking back at Renard defiantly. "She seems to be doing well for the most part."

"Yeah, she does. She looked very happy tonight."

"She'd be happier if you were in there with her."

"Would she?" Renard asked.

"Why are you asking for full custody if you don't want to spend any time with her?" Nick asked.

"It's not the matter of wanting to. It's the matter of if I don't ask for full custody Adalind will shut me out of Diana's life completely. You're asking for sole custody, or did you forget?"

"We're asking for primary physical and legal custody," Nick retorted, "Or weren't you listening."

"You might be willing to accept that, but Adalind never will be. My daughter has the right to know me and my family, Nick. Your friends are posing as your family while her real family is shut out!"

"No, my family is dead." Nick said bitterly. "Most of them were killed by members of _your_ family, or at your bidding," Nick added with a dark look, thinking of his aunt. "So you have nothing to fear there, because I don't actually _have_ any family. Neither does Adalind. Our children and friends are it."

"You grew up without your father, right?" Renard said after few moments of silence.

"He actually did die in the car accident with my mom when I was twelve," Nick said stiffly.

"You remember much about him?" Renard asked, looking at him, and Nick stepped back, leaned against the barrier.

"No," Nick said, after a moment. "A little." Renard nodded.

"My mother took me from my father when I was about the same age. We fled Europe, hid from the royal family, first in Russia, and later in the states. I remember a little about him. Hadn't spoken to him in almost twenty years when he died."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I don't know. I think your perspective as a father, and growing up as a child without one, makes you unique in this situation. I think you're able to see both sides of it, where maybe Adalind…or I…can't."

"We just want what is best for Diana."

"And that means shutting me out?" Renard asked him, turning to look at Nick.

"I don't know," Nick said, looking at him. "Does it? We offered you a suggestion. Every other weekend, two weeks out of the year, as Adalind said, it still allows you to be you, and I know you're still knee deep in royals and the resistance, whether you want to admit it or not. This way you can still spend time with your daughter, get to know her, and still pursue whatever it is you are pursuing."

"Every other weekend?" Renard repeated. "Two weeks out of the year."

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is for Adalind to let her out of her sight after the _one_ time that she did she lost her daughter for three years? That's never going to completely heal. Do you understand it from her perspective? She trusted you. She had no reason to trust me, given our history then, but she trusted I was being honest with her, that I wouldn't help steal her baby from her. We did something that's not going to just smooth over. It deeply affected her. She's terrified you'll do the same thing. She'll leave her with you and you'll decide she's better off in hiding and that will be the last time she ever sees Diana. So, if you've got something else in mind, bring it, but don't waste our time unless it's a serious offer of what you want and what you _can_ do _,_ otherwise, I guess we'll just see you in court."

"I don't want to fight with you, Nick. We still need to be able to work together. It's just a little hard to take when my own daughter calls you daddy. I can't imagine you'd be okay if the situation were reversed."

"She calls you daddy, too, and it's not about me, really, it's about what the child needs, and she needs to know there's not a dividing line between her and my son, where she's not worthy of the same love and attention he is."

"And that's not confusing for her?"

"Doesn't appear to be," Nick replied. "I'm not trying to take your place, but I'm not going to treat her any differently than I do my son, and she doesn't want to be treated any different. She wants to be accepted and loved. Believe it or not, I didn't want to be in the middle of this because I knew what a clusterfuck it would turn out to be, and I realize that I am, and that I'm not really doing much to stay out of the middle of it, but as long as this goes on, yeah, there's going to be problems. Adalind is Diana's mother, and she's the mother of my child and the woman I'm marrying. We're going to be in each other's orbits for a long time."

"I guess then that we can be miserable," Renard said moving away, "or tolerable, depending on us."

%%%%%%%%%

"Diana, get your coat, it's time to go," Adalind announced, and two small children's voices immediately whined in protest.

"So soon?" Elizabeth asked.

"It's almost nine," Adalind replied firmly, accepting a sleepy Kelly from Nick. She handed her son to Rosalee and grabbed their coats.

"Feels like we just sat down," Elizabeth said, with a tinge of disappointment. She smiled at Diana who slid off the seat next to her. "Goodbye my love," Elizabeth said to her, pulling her in for a hug. "I shall see you Saturday," she added with a smile and Diana nodded.

"Tell your father goodbye," Adalind instructed briskly, and Diana dutifully bid Renard adieu with a soft, "Bye daddy" and a hug before tiredly stumbling over to her mother and sliding into the coat she held out. She moved over by Nick and he picked her up, legs on either side of him, arms wrapped around his neck and laid her head against his shoulder sleepily.

"Time to go home," Nick said. "First night in your new bed and your new room," he reminded her and looked at Adalind as she accepted Kelly again. "Got everything?" and she nodded.

"Bye guys," he called out. "Thanks for coming."

Diana gave a tired wave and snuggled in against Nick, arms tightening briefly around his neck. She had had a lot of activity for the day, Kelly too, and Nick hoped that translated into a late morning for Nick and Adalind.

"Well, did the birthday girl have a good birthday?" Nick asked her quietly, scanning the area as they walked for anything suspicious.

"Yes, daddy," she whispered sleepily, and Nick caught Adalind's eye.

"Good," he said.

%%%%%%%%

"You take them up and I'll just check everything and make sure we're all locked up," Nick told Adalind once they were back in their home. He had forgotten just how much yet they had to do. Boxes surrounded them everywhere, piled in the great room, and kitchen and dining, and more upstairs. He despaired that they might not have a bed made up for him and Adalind to sleep on, but he was so tired from the day he could curl up in a ball on the floor and sleep anyway. Adalind and Diana could share her little twin bed if need be, Nick supposed. Maybe Kelly would be willing to share his crib with his dad. Or Diana and Kelly could share it and Nick and Adalind the twin bed.

"You got them?" Nick asked Adalind as she juggled both children in her arms and nodded. He watched her move awkwardly before darting forward to take Diana's weight.

"No, I've got them," Adalind assured, and Nick pulled his hands back and watched her successfully and slowly navigate the stairs. He went around the house, checking the windows and locking the doors and then turned on the alarm. It wasn't as sophisticated as the system at the loft, but it would do, Nick hoped, for the weekend. After that he would see about an upgrade.

He climbed the steps slowly, too, back aching from the move and the children and just getting old, he suspected. He peeked into the first room, Diana's, and found her curled up under the covers. He checked the windows again to be sure, and then bent down to kiss her forehead. He jumped back in surprise when two sockets of lilac light appeared in the darkness, and Diana blinked and Nick shook his head slightly.

"Night, daddy," she whispered, the purple intensifying and then fading away, and Diana closed her eyes again.

"Goodnight," Nick said, placing the intended kiss on her head and standing up. He shut the door but for a two-inch crack and then checked the next room, his son's, to find Kelly, the invertebrate, also curled up in what had to be an impossible position to sleep in. Nick straightened him out a little, and re-covered him with his blanket. He ran his hand over his son's soft brown hair, and bent down to place a kiss on his head as well. He checked the windows and left Kelly's room the same as he had Diana's.

He opened the door to the master bedroom and stifled a groan. Boxes. Everywhere. He moved further in and sighed in pleasure.

"Oh thank god," Nick said, and flopped face down on the bed. "I was afraid we might be sleeping on the floor."

"Are you kidding me?" Adalind said, shaking out a blanket. "I'd sleep on the mattress bare, I don't care at this point. Although, the whole car ride over here I could barely stay awake and now I'm like wired."

"Great, there's some boxes to unpack downstairs," Nick mumbled into the bedding. "Go knock yourself out."

"I'm actually not finished making the bed," Adalind remarked pointedly. "I need you to move," she added after a moment when Nick didn't.

He sighed and somehow pushed off the bed, drifting tiredly into the bathroom. When he returned Adalind had the bed made up with sheets, blanket, and comforter, and it was highly possible that had she been standing naked beside it, he would have brushed her aside to claim the bed.

"Ahh, a bed never felt so good."

"Our first night in our new house," Adalind said. "Maybe it's a good thing everyone's so tired. No first night jitters from the kids about unfamiliar sounds or sights in our new place."

"The birthday party went…better than I expected," Adalind remarked. He nodded into the bed.

"Renard and his mother were…actually...well-behaved. I noticed you both disappeared for a while," she added, the mattress dipping beside him as she settled in to her side of the bed. "Something happen?" she prodded when he didn't say anything, mostly because he was starting to drift off to sleep.

"No," Nick said with a herculean effort. "We just talked."

"About?"

"What do you think? Diana, you, me, fathers."

"Fathers?"

"Mine. His."

"He didn't get upset?"

"No, it was fairly civil. Don't think we resolved anything, but I think we at least heard the other side. Might be a step in the right direction."

"Maybe," she murmured and was silent for so long that Nick drifted off again.

"You were so great again with Diana tonight. She was absolutely charmed by you," Adalind said, shifting onto her side. Nick turned his head to face her. He shrugged. "She loves you," Adalind said.

"You say that as if I'm not charming or lovable," Nick mumbled teasingly. Her fingers brushed his face, sliding into his hair, and he snuggled deeper into the pillow, enjoying the feel of them. "It was all I could do not to jump your bones myself," Adalind admitted. He opened his eyes again.

"Speaking of which," Nick said, "I think I got hit on by Elizabeth."

"Another reason to hate her," Adalind muttered, and tugged on his hair. "Don't go getting any ideas," she warned.

"With Renard's mother? Uh, no," Nick said definitively, shuddering. "I have no idea what brought that on," he said, closing his eyes.

"I do. There's nothing sexier than a man who spends time with and so obviously loves his children," and Nick met her eyes.

"The badge, the gun, the handsome smile and gorgeous eyes, this gorgeous head of hair I can't seem to keep my fingers out of, all pale in comparison, to the sight of you entertaining your kids." She leaned in and kissed him and he smiled and shrugged again.

"Just doing my job, ma'am," he said, shifting from his stomach to his side. Adalind's mouth closed over his again, breaking away to brush light kisses against his cheek, eyelids, and nose, hand sliding down his chest.

"You can't possibly be wanting to jump my bones now, could you?" Nick asked.

"Maybe it is the smile," she said, "and the devastating good looks, and the two children hanging off your every word, but tonight you were pretty irresistible."

"Hmm," he said, Adalind finding his mouth again. "Raincheck?" he said tiredly when the broke apart. "I don't' think I'm going to be much good in my present state."

She pushed gently against his shoulder and he rolled on his back. He looked up at her with tired eyes.

"We should break in the bed," she said, sliding over him, mouth more insistent.

"We already have," Nick reminded her. It was the same one from the loft, after all, and Nick was honestly surprised they hadn't _broken_ the bed given some of the antics they had on it. In it. Around it.

"Not here," she argued, hands sliding under his T-shirt. He closed his eyes, contemplating if he had enough fuel in reserves to power him through what she was asking. "We haven't christened this room yet," she remarked and one of her hands drifted under the waistband of his pajama bottoms and made the decision for him. He met her smug eyes as she climbed over him, straddling his hips.

"You're doing all the work," Nick told her with a hint of a smile.

"I usually do, don't I?" she returned with a cheeky grin and thrust against her in warning. "I can't wait to be your wife." She grinned again, more seductive this time, and then proceeded to leave Nick gasping for air and purchase as she rocked him into oblivion.

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Comments, criticisms, callouts?


	18. Chapter 18

AN: Just a couple more chapters to go in the story that never ends (feels like it to me, anyway).

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Nick rubbed his eyes and blinked. "How long have you been up?" he asked.

Adalind looked over her shoulder at him, gave him a knowing, smug grin, likely at his disoriented look, and said, "Since a little before eight I guess."

Nick glanced at the wall, frowned when there was no clock, and looked at his wrist, and the frowned deepened when he realized he wasn't wearing a watch.

"What time is it?"

"About nine, I guess."

"Kids still asleep?"

"Yeah, they had a busy night," she said with another smile, looking at him coyly.

"Yeah, so did we," Nick said, thinking of the night before. He tromped around the boxes and belongings on the floor and bent down to give her a kiss.

"There's coffee on in the kitchen," she announced, and jumped when Nick suddenly reached for her again and placed a deeper, more enthusiastic kiss on her mouth.

"I knew there was a reason why I loved you," he breathed, and hurried off in the direction she had pointed.

"Like your son isn't reason enough?"

"It helps," he called back. "Are these donuts?" he called a minute later, flipping over the lid of the container. "Yes! Oh my god," he mumbled around a mouthful of Bavarian crème.

"I know what my detective likes," he heard her say, and he reappeared in the great room, mug of coffee in one hand and half a donut in the other.

"Smart, beautiful, blondes," he replied.

"Obviously."

He sat down on the floor beside her and took another sip of his coffee and watched her continue to unpack.

"Thought I would take advantage of the quiet to get something done. You know when the two goblins get up there's no hope of finishing," she told him and he nodded and took another bite of his donut.

"I was thinking," Nick began.

"Always a dangerous activity," she joked. "About?"

"What you said last night," he replied, slurping his coffee loudly.

"What did I say?" she asked him, brow furrowing, pulling a vase out of a box.

"How you can't wait to be my wife," he said, and she looked at him, still confused.

"Yeah?"

"Why wait," he asked her. She sat back and looked at him dumbly.

"Huh?"

"Why wait?" he said again.

"No, that's what I thought you said," she said.

"What are we waiting for? I mean, we can plan a wedding in a few weeks, can't we?"

"Yeaaaah," she said, looking at him like he was nuts. "You're serious?" she asked him after a minute where they stared at each other.

"Yes!" Nick said. "Let's get married."

"Okay," she said, and her tone indicated she still thought he was crazy, or maybe pulling her leg.

"Adalind," he said, grabbing her hand. "I'm serious. I want to make you my wife. Let's be married and start our life together as husband and wife."

"Okay," she said again, and Nick frowned.

"Okay?" he said.

"Okay, Nick, just give me a minute here," she said snappishly, looking at the vase still in her hands. She set it down on the floor.

"You're telling me," she began with a deep breath, "that you don't want to wait, you want to get married as soon as possible? Like fly to Vegas or something?"

"No, not to Vegas necessarily, but I think we can figure something out without it being a months-long engagement. We have children to raise and a life to live, and I just don't want to spend another second of it if I don't have to without making this step."

"Just checking," she replied. "Okay," she said again, more to herself, and Nick rolled his eyes. She stared at him again for a couple of minutes and then said, "Okay," with a more definitive answer.

"Okay?"

"Yes, I will marry you. Tomorrow if you want. No—wait, I have meetings tomorrow. Tuesday. Or a month from Tuesday, whatever. I don't really want to wait a long time either. I mean, honestly, we've kind of done everything so backwards that waiting seems pointless. We got pregnant, we decided to live together, we decided to _be_ together," she said. "It just seems crazy to do some long, drawn out, huge wedding thing. Something simple and us should suffice."

"I agree," Nick said happily, as he took the final bite of his donut. He raised his eyebrows expectantly. "So. What _do_ you want to do for the wedding?"

%%%%%%%%%

"Are you sure about this?"

She flashed her eyes in annoyance and gave him a wry smile.

"For the last time, Nick, yes, I'm sure. Honestly, I don't need or want some ridiculous fairy tale wedding. Given our history, it's more a horror story anyway, at least the first half. This is more us," she replied. "Definitely more me. Why, did you want some big, formal wedding?"

No, he didn't. One, who did he even know that could fill a church pew, much less a dozen of them? The number of friends and family—and he ignored the pang in his heart on that last one—he had that he would invite to his wedding he could probably count on both hands-and he probably wouldn't need the second one, really-and at this point in his life he would only have those close to him anyway.

Not like it would have been with Juliette, where they might have had enough mutual friends, and family, and acquaintances to at least fill a small church, most of it on her side, he suspected, as even if his mom had still been alive, everyone else in his family was dead or long since fallen out of contact.

Monroe, Rosalee, Hank, Wu, Trubel, Bud-those were his friends, but he and Adalind had decided because of the deeply personal nature of their history and the subsequent relationship that developed that it would just be them, in front of a justice of the peace, during both Nick and Adalind's lunch hours on a Wednesday afternoon.

And two, like her, he wasn't really looking for a fairy tale wedding either.

Yes, a justice of the peace was probably more them, and as Adalind said, definitely more her, but Nick couldn't help feeling he was selling her short by agreeing to this. Surely she was deserving of a little fanfare, but he was at a loss as to what qualified. Not like they were going to, or wanted to go to Vegas to get hitched, but Nick thought it might be nice to at least celebrate their union with more than a trip to city hall.

"No, I suppose not, but we could still do something nice instead of just driving down to city hall."

"We are. I'm going to wear a nice dress, you're going to wear a nice suit and then we'll spend our first night together as husband and wife, and the next morning we will wake up as Mr. and Mrs. Burkhardt. Wow, that's going to take some getting used to," she said to herself. She smiled at him, a seductive look in her eye. "Of course it's only legit if we consummate the union."

"I plan on consummating the hell out of it," Nick said, and Adalind grinned. "Especially that weekend."

Diana would be with Renard for the weekend, and Kelly would most likely be spending time with his Aunt Rosalee and Uncle Mo-mo. Perhaps he should save his energy for something special for the weekend. He had thought about taking her away somewhere, but she had been hesitant to leave Diana or Kelly with anyone other than her or, in Diana's case, Renard and only as per their court-ordered agreement. Maybe he could convince her since Diana would already be away to go away with him for the weekend, maybe someplace close so she wouldn't be so far from her children.

"Hmm," Adalind said. "We could spend the weekend christening each room in our new home," she said, and Nick slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him.

"We have our whole lives for that," Nick said. "I was thinking since it would technically be our honeymoon, we could do something special for the weekend."

"Hmm," she said again, but it wasn't discouraging. "What did you have in mind?"

"Someplace nice, maybe a cabin in the woods—"

"—A chalet," she gasped. "One with a Jacuzzi and a king-sized bed and a wine cellar, and a fireplace."

"—A chalet," he continued, "just the two of us, where you can scream as loud as you want to," Nick said with a smile and he felt her cheek press against his chest as she did, too. "And I can do all sorts of things to you without worrying about one of the kids hearing and scarring our children."

She laughed, a light-hearted sound. "Sounds wonderful," she said and Nick felt his pulse jump.

"Good, maybe I'll book a place, then."

"Maybe you should."

"You're sure city hall is where you want to get married," he asked again.

"Yes. I'm sure. If you don't want to get married there then I guess we can figure something else out, but I really don't want the whole white dress—I mean, white? Me? really?—and church, and honestly how many people do you and I both know that we'd even want at our wedding? Between the two us is there even a dozen people we'd invite? All your family is dead. All mine is dead, or been MIA since the 80s. I don't really care about the wedding, I just want to be married to you and raise our family and get through the next few decades together."

"No, you're right. Okay, just making sure. So I'm wearing a suit, you're wearing a dress, and we're getting married. Tomorrow. At noon. Ish. Could probably celebrate and legitimize it right away with a one-er, I suppose, afterwards," he added, with a bit of a cheeky grin, and Adalind gave him a look.

"Suddenly we're all about a one-er, huh?"

"I don't know about suddenly, but yeah, I might not be opposed to maybe even taking the rest of the day off and spending it in bed with you."

"Hmm, you'll have the whole weekend for that, and anyway, I've got a deposition at three, and I think we're tempting fate as it is by hoping you don't get called out to a crime scene by trying to schedule it in advance anyway."

"I promise you I won't miss my own wedding."

"Uh-huh."

"You realize I'm going to have several very upset people on my end that we went and did this and didn't tell them or invite them."

"As long as it's all on your end."

"Ha."

"And you can tell them."

"No I can't, because if I do we'll have those half dozen people all crowded in with us, at least two of them arguing over who's best man."

She sighed.

"Rosalee would probably be matron of honor, you think? Trubel a bridesmaid? Wow, I almost wish we were doing a whole wedding ceremony thing. Can you imagine Trubel in some god-awful pink bridesmaid dress? Diana as a flower girl," Adalind said wistfully.

"Trubel? Pink? I'm trying to imagine Rosalee in such a thing. Diana I can imagine. Can you imagine Kelly as ring-bearer?"

"We'd be lucky he didn't eat the ring. Actually, Trubel would probably be one of your groomsman," Adalind remarked thoughtfully.

"Good, you can have Monroe or Hank as a bridesmaid."

"Which one would you have chosen as best man?"

"I don't know. Hank's right, I've known him longer. But…"

"Yeah. At least this way everyone's feelings will get hurt, not just certain ones. I guess it's better this way. Tell them after," she said.

"I'm telling them on my way to our honeymoon and then I'm turning off my phone right after."

"They're going to know as soon as they see your wedding ring, Nick. We still have a couple days until the weekend and our honeymoon."

Oh. Right. He had forgotten about that.

"You do intend to wear one?" she added with raised eyebrows and a suppressed smile.

"Of course. Crap," he said.

"What a bride always wants to hear," she replied.

"I'm really thinking that one-er, and maybe starting our honeymoon a day or two early is sounding better and better."

"I'm sure."

"I could make the one-er worth your while," he added, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"I know you can," Adalind said, amused. "It's very tempting," she added in a tone that said she wasn't really all that tempted. "But unless you want Berman to be calling me all during our honeymoon getaway, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take that deposition at three. Unfortunately. And you can forget about me having the afternoon off. I just came back from six weeks of leave he really didn't want to give me, so I'm looking at late nights for the foreseeable and distant future. You'll be lucky if I'm able to get out of work Friday by four."

"My wife is required for honeymooning," Nick stated, slipping his arms around her waist. "Tell him he'd better hope I don't have to come down and get you."

"You might have to. In fact, you hauling me away in handcuffs is probably the only way he might let me get out of here. Your wife…" she repeated reverently, and then kissed him soundly.

"I'll keep them handy, just in case."

"Good. If nothing else, I'll make sure they don't go to waste when we get to wherever you're taking me," she promised with a curl of her lips.

%%%%%%%%%

She looked beautiful, but then, she always did. Her hair was done in big, wavy, blonde curls, and she was wearing a beautiful champagne colored cocktail dress, with a lace overlay and lacy elbow length sleeves. The dress hit just above the knee, and was flared from the waist, with a boat neck. It reminded Nick of something he'd seen in movies of high-class ladies from the fifties or early sixties, though the skirt wasn't that full, and it was classy, and understated and beautiful, like her. Nick was in a navy blue slim-fit suit and tie, and white shirt, and he felt self-conscious as he took a seat next to her on the bench outside the Office of the Justice of the Peace. No one else was in the hallway with them, he noted, looking around, the training and instincts he had honed for years as a police officer coming naturally.

He smoothed down his tie and caught Adalind's eye. She reached out a hand to help straighten it.

"Nervous?" she asked, and surprisingly he wasn't. Not really.

"No, not as much as I thought I would be, anyway," he said. "You?"

"A little," she admitted. "I can't believe we're going to do this."

"Not too late to back out," Nick offered.

"No way. You're stuck with me," she said, with a crooked smile and Nick was overwhelmed by the thought of how much had changed between them in such a short time. Except it didn't feel short.

"Wow," Nick mused quietly. "Who would have thought you and I would be here, huh? Doing this. Raising a family together. The Grimm and the Hexenbiest, happily ever after."

Adalind managed a smile, still fingering his tie. "I know, right? I never thought—" and she stopped, choked up, and Nick's hand went to her cheek automatically. She smiled and shook her head, and took a few deep breaths. "I can't cry before we get married, I'll ruin my makeup."

She took a few more deep breaths and continued. "I never in a million years thought I would love anyone, much less you, of all people, the way that I do, but I can't imagine what my life would be like now without you in it. And I hope," and her voice broke, and her hand fell away from him and she turned and faced the wall across from her, and not Nick. "I hope I never have to," she finished, regaining control of her voice.

"Adalind," he said.

"No—" she shook her head. "I know. I do," she said, glancing at him. "You can tell me tonight, or this weekend, but right now—let's just get through this without me turning into an embarrassing mess. Okay, that's enough of that, I think. Happy thoughts," she told him.

"I'll get to spend the rest of my life telling you," he whispered, but he nodded, pulled her close and after pressing a kiss to her hair, he pulled back and gave her some space.

"I'm holding you to that," she said after another moment where she gathered herself together.

"Promise," he said, and looked up when the door to the office opened and a clerk stepped out.

"Schade-Burkhardt?"

"Ready?" Nick asked her, getting to his feet and holding out his hand for her.

%%%%%%%%%%

He kept waiting for someone to point it out.

The doofy smile he had been sporting since they had said their _I dos_ and he had kissed his bride.

The spring in his step at the thought that he would be going home to his _wife_ and kids—well, kid, tonight, since Diana would be at Renard's for her Wednesday visitation—in just a few hours.

The suit he was still wearing, that he hadn't been wearing when he went to lunch, and hadn't had time to change out of in his rush to get back to the precinct on time, or, at least, not too late from his lunch.

The thin, but weighty band of platinum that now adorned his ring finger.

He spent a few moments in the elevator, trying out different answers in his head to the questions he thought he might have when he came back from lunch, so noticeably different from before he left.

…Except apparently it wasn't noticeable? Or you had to have someone at least be there to notice anything.

Or else they were all really bad cops, Nick thought, because no one said anything.

Nick arrived back from the Justice of the Peace, and took a seat at his desk, glancing around the department. Hank was nowhere to be found, and Wu wasn't near his desk either. Nick looked past both to Renard's office, but he was on the phone, from what Nick could see, and neither Hank nor Wu were with him.

It was really sort of anticlimactic, Nick thought, now wondering why they had tried to keep their plans on the down-low when he probably could have casually mentioned what he was doing on his way out and no one probably would have noticed or cared.

Well, he could finalize their honeymoon plans, since they were leaving out Friday afternoon, Berman be damned Nick thought, while he was waiting to find out where everyone was, and placed his hand over his mouse and clicked on the browser icon. He leaned forward, clicking through the screens, his other hand, his ring-fingered hand, on his thigh, and spent twenty minutes getting everything together, by the end of which time Hank had finally shown.

"Hey, wow, you're back already?" Hank asked him, sounding impressed, and Nick's eyes shot to his in surprise. _Already?_ Had he found out?

"Already?" he asked.

"That must be the shortest meeting yet you've had there. Every other time you've been gone at least two hours," Hank noted, and Nick frowned, wondering what he was talking about.

"Hey guys, we got two bodies at the river," Wu said, pausing by their desks. "Daycare meeting?" Wu asked, pointing at Nick's suit, and Nick realized what they were both talking about and he suppressed an eye roll. Yes, Adalind usually encouraged (read: insisted on) Nick to dress nice whenever they had to go for a face-to-face progress report on Kelly, usually about once a quarter, if Nick couldn't shirk his way out of it. No wonder they weren't curious as to why he was suited up.

Some detectives.

Nick sighed and followed.

%%%%%%%%

"Burkhardt," Nick said into his phone.

"Dude, you got married?!"

"Uhh," Nick said, glancing at Hank who was driving. Monroe's voice was loud in his ear, and Nick had reflexively moved the phone away from it.

"Rosalee just told me," Monroe continued in a perturbed voice. "Thanks for inviting me," Monroe added.

"Monroe," Nick said, pressing the phone against his ear again.

"Yeah, Monroe," Monroe said. "Remember? Your supposed friend?"

"Monroe, look, we didn't—"

"I can't believe you just up and get married without telling anyone," Monroe continued loudly.

"Is that Monroe?" Hank asked, glancing at Nick. "What's he upset about?"

Nick shook his head, trying to wave him off.

"Is that Hank with you?" Monroe demanded, voice still loud. "Does he know you got married?"

"Wait, what?" Did he say married? Who got married? You?" Hank said in surprise from beside him, and Nick glanced at Hank. "Is that why you're dressed up in a suit?"

"What?" Monroe said.

Nick sighed and switched the phone to speaker.

"You're on speaker," he told Monroe.

"You got married?" Hank said again, looking at Nick. "What? When? Today? Did you go do that on your lunch hour?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Nick said.

"What?"

Nick held up his ring hand to demonstrate. Hank gaped at him.

"Watch the road," Nick said, as Hank's eyes burned into the side of his skull.

"Wait, what's he doing?"

"Showing me the wedding ring on his finger. Seriously, you decide instead of a club sandwich you'd get married instead. It's not like they have drive thru wedding chapels here. Where'd you even get married?"

"City hall," Nick said.

"They're usually by appointment only," Monroe pointed out.

"We had an appointment," Nick said, squirming a little.

"What the hell, man?" Hank asked annoyed.

"So, you've been planning this how long?" Monroe exclaimed.

"A couple of weeks," Nick admitted.

"Dude, what the hell?" Monroe said.

"Look, it's not that we didn't want you guys there, we just didn't want some big wedding ceremony, thing. I think Adalind is still…hyperaware of our history and a traditional ceremony…it would just be weird. We're not traditional, nothing about how our relationship came about is traditional, we just wanted something simple and us. It wasn't about keeping it a secret."

"Except, you know, the part where you kept it a secret," Monroe pointed out and Hank gave him a look.

"I'm sorry," Nick said with a sigh.

"Unbelievable," Monroe said. "I mean, what was that even like?"

"It was…different from what I expected, but it was good," Nick said, recalling how he thought he would be standing in an office setting, surrounded by stacks of bookshelves containing law books, saying his vows, and then out the door, like it was a doctor's appointment or something, and not something as monumental as marrying the woman you loved. He had underestimated Adalind's penchant for planning. They had met in the JoP's office, where the justice and they had all introduced themselves, Nick realizing that Adalind and the justice knew each other at some point in their legal careers. They had then proceeded out an emergency exit door right into a beautiful, flowered courtyard, where Nick had said his vows to Adalind under the semblance of something more romantic and wedding-y, to borrow Adalind's term.

"Seriously, are we going to have to pry the details out of you?"

"Rosalee didn't tell you?" Nick asked.

"Yes," Monroe groused, "I just wanted to see if you had the balls to tell me."

"I'm sure she described it better than I could give it justice. Adalind told her?"

"Yes, at least she's a better friend than you are," Monroe added, "although, I guess, not much, since it was after the fact."

"So are we not allowed to celebrate your happiness?" Hank said.

"You can celebrate," Nick said.

"So a small reception party wouldn't be amiss," Monroe asked him, "especially since Rosalee is set on throwing one. Which is one of the reasons why I'm calling. Because if I was any less a friend, I probably wouldn't be speaking to you right now."

"Look, I'm sorry."

"So you say."

"And, no, it wouldn't be amiss," Nick said. "In fact I'm sure it will be appreciated. By both of us," he added.

His phone chirped and Nick looked at it. "Adalind's calling," Nick said. "I should probably take it."

"Of course you should," Hank said, and Nick gave him a dirty look. "The old ball and chain."

"Tell the _wife_ I said hi," Monroe retorted. Nick rolled his eyes and disconnected from Monroe's call.

"Hey I'm just pulling up to a crime scene," Nick said when he picked up the phone. "What do you need?"

"Umm, don't be mad, but I may or may not have told Rosalee," she said.

"Yeah, I found that out," Nick replied drily getting out of the vehicle and following Hank, who shook his head and asked Wu, "Whatya got?"

"Oh. I take it Monroe knows?"

"Monroe knows, Hank knows—"

"Who's Nick talking to?" he heard Wu ask Hank.

"His wife."

"What?!"

"—Wu knows," Nick finished. "Probably just should have bought some ad time on the radio and made an announcement."

"Hmm." She said and there was silence on the line for a moment as Nick waited for her next question. "Soo…how'd they take it."

"'Bout how you would expect."

"Right."

"You got married? When was this?" Wu exclaimed, looking at Hank.

"Today at lunch."

"What?!"

"I gotta go. I'll see you tonight. Love you," Nick said, when he reached the first body.

"Love you too. Bye."

"You and Adalind got married?" Wu asked him, as though Hank might be pulling his leg.

"Yeah," Nick said, kneeling down to peer at the body closer. Hank did the same on the opposite side, and Wu looked at Hank.

"Wow. Okay," Wu said.

"Puncture wounds here on the side," Hank pointed and Nick glanced at where he was indicating.

"Looks like defensive wounds here on the hands, and fingers."

"Where's the other body?" Wu pointed and Nick and Hank stood and walked over.

"Is that why you're in a suit?" Wu asked him.

"Yeah," Nick said again.

"So, you're just…married. Okay. Are you going on a honeymoon? Is there a party or dinner or something where we can celebrate?"

"I think Rosalee is putting together something, like a reception type thing," Nick said distractedly.

"Well, at least somebody knew," Wu said pointedly, and Hank shook his head.

"They just found out, too."

"What? Seriously? You didn't tell _anybody_?" and Nick sighed loudly.

"Doesn't that make you feel better, though?" Nick asked, annoyed. "At least we didn't play favorites."

"I guess that's true," Wu said, looking appeased by the revelation and Nick stared at him another moment before turning back to the body.

"I cannot wait for this weekend," Nick muttered.

"What's this weekend?"

"My honeymoon. Diana will be with the captain. Kelly is going to be with Monroe and Rosalee and I am going to be somewhere far away with my new bride."

"Does Captain know you got married?"

"No," Nick said, shortly. "I haven't told him. See, you guys were first. That should make you feel better."

"Actually I only found out because Rosalee told Monroe and Monroe called you and I overheard what he said, and Wu only found out because of me. I have a feeling if it was up to you we'd still be in the dark."

"Actually I was waiting to see how long it took you guys to notice. Got to say, little disappointed."

"I noticed," Hank said defensively.

"Not the ring. You noticed the suit. Stellar detective work there," Nick commented and Hank shot him a squinty-eyed look.

"You said the suit was for a daycare interview," Wu said.

"No, _you_ said that."

"What? No—" Wu started and then stopped. "Hmm. Well at any point you could have corrected me."

"Where's the fun in that?" Nick said.

"Wow. Married." Wu said, still looking gobsmacked. "Didn't you just get engaged, like what? A couple of months ago?"

"About that," Nick said. "There's some blood on the sleeve, could be the perpetrator's."

"Blood on the front, too," Hank said.

"Why the rush?"

"We didn't want to wait any longer."

"Why? She's not pregnant again is she?" Hank looked up at Wu, then Nick, considering.

"No."

"I mean, new house, bigger house, engaged, married."

"She's not pregnant, Wu," Nick said crossly. _I mean, I would know, she would tell me. I think. She would. We talked about it. It's too soon right now with everything with Diana and Kelly, but we'll have another baby one day, maybe in a couple of years._

"Can we solve the mystery that's right here in front of us, instead of the one as to why I might want to just go ahead and get married already to the woman I've been involved with for two years now."

"Yeah. Sure," Wu said, after a pause and switched over to Sergeant Wu mode.

%%%%%%%%%

Review! Review! Review!

(please?)


	19. Chapter 19

AN: They renewed, they renewed! Now they can drag out Nadalind for another whole year. I mean, I'm happy there's a season 6, don't get me wrong.

AN 2: I struggled with last chapter (there's an epilogue-don't panic), so apologies if it reads that way.

%%%%%%%

He hadn't missed coming here, in the two months where he had had a self-imposed reprieve. The door buzzed and Nick stepped through after a minute where he debated on whether or not to turn around and leave.

He would have preferred to go home to his new bride, enjoyed a quiet dinner with her and their son, and then put Kelly to bed and celebrated their union as husband and wife. Instead he was following Nameless No. 37 through Hadrian's Wall to meet up with Trubel, who was recently returned from a lengthy assignment, or assignments, and the rest of the H.W lot, to dig up some more information on the case Renard had given him two weeks ago.

Meisner hadn't had much info to give when Nick had initially called on him, but Trubel had phoned Nick at ten minutes after five, saying they had discovered some more information, and Nick had suppressed a sigh at the delay it would cause him with seeing Adalind and had told Trubel he would be there around six to see what they had found.

Adalind had sounded less than impressed, too, when he had called and told her he would be home late.

Nameless led him to the War room, the center of the operation, filled with computers and monitors covering everywhere and anywhere on the globe. Nick spotted Meisner, bent over a computer screen Eve was in front of, as they peered at whatever had captured their attention.

"Nick!" Trubel said, spotting him from another computer station, and she stood up and held her arms out to embrace him. He hugged her, glad at least to see her safe and unharmed, and turned his attention back to Meisner when he spoke to him.

"Burkhardt," Meisner said as Eve looked up, her eyes nearly devoid of any emotion, but he had known her well for years when she was Juliette, lively and unable to maintain a straight face, and then the last three years as Eve, far more tempered in her expressions, but he could see in her eyes she was excited about whatever they had found. He wondered at what might excite Eve, and came up with the conclusion that it was nothing good.

"You said you had some information?"

"We do. We found some information on the container from Munich."

The FBI hadn't been very cooperative with them, despite the Portland P.D's claim about having a similar case before, and Nick suspected some of that was due to Nick's involvement in that case. Obviously they had recognized his name as one that had come up in prior investigations, Kanigher, Weston Steward and Chavez specifically, so he had let Hank and Wu handle any inquiries with them after that.

"Have you ever heard of Anton Schmidt?"

"No, should I have?"

"He's a key player in the black claw's second movement. He fled Austria in 1976 as a young child, and was raised primarily in Norway. He was educated in Britain and then migrated across Europe under various aliases before coming to the states in 2007. His most recent alias included James Newton and Brighton Sudcliffe."

"Sudcliffe?" Nick said sharply. "Sudcliffe as in the guy who assaulted Adalind?" he looked at Meisner who gave a grim nod.

"Yeah, we think so," Trubel said. "Take a look at these," Trubel clicked on her mouse and a picture of tall, lithe, man in dark clothing appeared on the main monitor in the room.

"This is Sudcliffe?" Nick asked, looking back at the assembled faces, and Trubel nodded. He looked up at the image studying Sudcliffe carefully. He had hurt Adalind terribly, he and Louis, and he clenched his jaw remembering how she had looked, how disoriented she had been, when they had finally found her.

"Keep looking," Eve instructed, and he looked at her and then did a double take. Sudcliffe had held her captive too at one point, and she would have recognized his face when she saw it.

He watched as Trubel clicked through more images, until stopping at one and stepping back. Nick stared stupidly, recognizing this was what Eve was wanting him to see.

"When was this taken?" Nick asked, looking at her. She looked faintly excited, the usually unexpressive eyes alight with discovery. He was struck by the fact this was likely personal for her. He and Louis had injected her with a weak form of suppressant-similar to what Adalind had concocted years ago-and had smacked her around as well. For a few weeks Eve had been Juliette again, and it had been jolting to realize how little he truly felt for her anymore. What a relief it had been to know that he had finally moved past her, that he was where he should be with Adalind.

"A few weeks ago."

Likely the missing weekend with Diana, Nick thought and moved closer to the screen. Renard and Sudcliffe, not only in the same frame, but looking as though they were conversing. Did Renard know this was Sudcliffe, or was he unaware because Sudcliffe was using another nom de guerre? What was Renard's business with him?

"What does Sudcliffe have to do with the container and the bodies they found?"

"Under his Newton alias, he's been tied to the business that sent it."

"GQR industries?" Nick said, remembering Adalind's affiliation with the royals' front company.

"No," Meisner said, and Nick looked back at him.

"Fitz and Ramstein, an IT company that started in Munich."

"Where the container originated from," Nick said.

"There's these, too," Eve said, handing Nick a few satellite surveillance photos, taken on what appeared to be two separate occurrences from the one displayed on the screen in front of him. So it had been more than just a one-time thing, and Nick wondered again what Renard was up to. Remembered Adalind's certainty that he was up to something. Thought maybe he should have listened to her more.

"What are you thinking?" Nick asked, looking up at Meisner, but it was Eve who answered.

"Newton's been tied to an assassination attempt on two royals," and Nick looked up in surprise at her. She stared back, watching him.

"That's interesting, since Renard told me that something had the royals in an uproar."

"That would do it," Trubel said.

"We think Renard hired or is working with Newton."

"You think Renard's making his move," Nick said. "And using Black Claw to do it?"

"Possibly," Meisner interjected. "We're not sure what he's doing, but he's been involved with the death of a royal before."

Yes, his brother, Nick recalled. And a cousin? The brother had been retaliation for the Cracher-Mortel and what he had done to Nick.

"He's been making some moves to establish and position himself for more power and influence."

"You mean the bid for mayor," Nick replied, but he had ultimately dropped out of the race, not even a few months after he had declared his intention to run. Nick wondered now if that hadn't been orchestrated either.

"You are aware he's part of a special council for the city and has been influencing one of the state senators."

No, he hadn't been aware. He didn't follow that deeply into local politics, and he had been busy the last two months trying to become acclimated to a four-member family, in addition to everything else that had been going on as of late.

He flipped through the photos again, more slowly this time, scrutinizing the background and anything else visible in the pictures. He heard Trubel gasp after a minute and he looked up at her questioningly, glancing back down at the photos for something he had missed.

"What?" he said alertly, moving the photos around so that they were laying side by side each other.

"Your hand," Trubel said, and Nick frowned, before he realized what she was talking about.

Oh, right. That.

"Is that a wedding ring?" Trubel said, in a slightly higher pitched voice than normal. Meisner and Eve's eyes flicked to his ring adorned hand as well and Nick sucked some air through his teeth. Perhaps he would have been wiser to take it off, at least while he was here. Wasn't sure how he felt with H.W and Eve being in possession of the knowledge that Adalind was now his wife. Well, there was no denying what it was.

"Yeah," he said, "It looks like these are all taken in Portland," he noted, trying to shift attention away from his personal life.

"You got married?" Trubel said. "When did you get married? When did you even get engaged?" she asked in a hurt tone, and Nick glanced at her, realizing she had been out of the loop for quite a while now. Nick had thought her sudden reassignment to parts unknown was suspicious. Things had always been fairly straightforward between Nick and Trubel until her involvement in Hadrian's Wall, but after that and then the thing with Juliette's death, there had been some distance creep between them that seemed to only widen as he got more involved with Adalind. He was starting to wonder if caginess was a side effect of joining their movement. It was a sad day when he contemplated if Eve might be the most straightforward one of their group.

"I asked her a couple of months ago," Nick replied, " _She_ said yes," he couldn't help add, and ignored the slight sharpening of Eve's gaze. Not that she probably even cared at this point, but it was nice that somebody he loved had had no hesitation making that decision to be with him for the rest of her life, whatever misgivings she may or may not have about his life as a Grimm. He didn't have to hide that side of him from Adalind, although ironically he still found it hard sometimes to share certain things, trying to protect her from unnecessary worry or fear.

"I guess congratulations are in order for you and Adalind. I had no idea," Meisner acknowledged, and Nick almost smirked at him, _See? You don't know everything in your little hive,_ but Nick thought it likely that had it not been just hours ago he had married Adalind they probably would have. Honestly, he was surprised there wasn't some sort of live update anytime something significant happened in his life, as they appeared to know everything that happened anyway, especially persons of interest to them, such as Nick and Adalind.

"It's not necessary," Nick said instead, and pointed to a building on one of the photos. "This looks like the side of the old timber factory. I recognize the graffiti."

Eve nodded. "According to the GPS coordinates from the security footage it is."

Nick hadn't needed all that to figure that out, just years on the force and living in Portland and his own eyes and instincts. The more he considered the Wall and what they were about, the more he thought he had made the right decision to not devote himself full-time to their cause. Look what they had hidden from Adalind for years. Look what they did to Eve. He still had mixed feelings about what they had transformed her to. You couldn't say she was no longer deadly, because she certainly was, though they had managed to shift her focus into something with less chaotic intent. There was always the feeling that one day the other shoe might drop, or that she might decide she had had enough of their control and then would they be able to rein her in?

"When did you get married?" Trubel interrupted. "Were you even going to tell me?" and Nick sighed and straightened, trying to keep the annoyance out of his tone.

"Today, all right? We got married today, and instead of being home with my wife, I'm here with you guys, so maybe we can hurry this along, and I can still salvage the rest of my wedding night."

Not that anyone in this room was probably eager to help him meet that goal, given who said wife was, he reflected.

Trubel crossed her arms over her chest but said nothing else, and after a long, invasive look from Eve, she resumed her instructional on the photos.

"Do you know how often they're meeting?" Nick asked her, and she stared at him for a beat too long before answering.

"Once, a month ago, then again two weeks ago, twice in a three-day period."

"Something must have went down," Trubel said.

"The container," Nick replied, looking at Trubel, then Eve. "Maybe what went down with the container wasn't supposed to happen?"

"What have you been able to discern from your police investigation?" Meisner asked.

"Not much," Nick admitted. "Feds have jurisdiction and they're not about to share information with me, given the fact I was at the center of three investigations related to agents of theirs. I don't think they trust me. They've pretty much shut us out."

Plus, he had been busy with moving, getting married, and Diana. He stared at the screen shot of Sudcliffe, suddenly pensive. Diana. He recalled Adalind had gotten served with notice that Renard was pursuing full custody the day they had been made aware of the bodies in the container. He was struck once again that the timing was suspect. He had been tied up ever since with a fight over Diana, avoiding Renard and throwing himself into his Wesen cases. He wondered now if that had been Renard's intent all along, to distract Nick with a brewing custody battle.

But then why even inform them of the container and the bodies? To simply get ahead of the curve in case Nick should discover it on his own? Not to mention for years Renard had worked to keep Nick close and on his side, going to great lengths to achieve that by one means or another. Was he now suddenly expendable? He remembered Adalind's comment about usefulness. Wondered if he had now been discarded, like she had. How did Diana fit into all this? Did he truly want her or was she just convenient distraction?

What was his true endgame?

%%%%%%%%%

"Nick. Nick!" and Nick looked behind him to see Trubel hurrying to catch up with him. He stopped, his truck, aka his ticket to Adalind one door and mere yards away. He raised his eyebrows, waiting for Trubel to explain whatever it was that made her run to catch up to him.

She stared back at him, clearly fumbling for words and he frowned at her behavior.

"Everything all right?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said after a moment and he looked at her quizzically. "No," she amended. "You got married?" she asked again and Nick sighed.

"You going to bust my balls, too?" Nick asked her. She gave him a confused look. "We didn't tell anyone," Nick clarified. "Monroe and Hank and everyone else were pretty upset when they found out. We just wanted something small and private and us, and we decided we'd just go to city hall, say our vows, and that would be it."

"You didn't want to tell anyone?"

"It wasn't that we didn't want to tell anyone," Nick said, wondering how he could explain it. "We just needed this to be just us," Nick said, hoping she could understand.

"Wow, first you're somebody's dad, and now your somebody's husband," she said, "You're like some regular family man, almost," and there was a touch of wistfulness in her comment that made Nick pause. She had never had a real family, probably not for as long as she could remember. She had never felt like she had belonged anywhere until she had met Nick and found out she wasn't alone in seeing strange things, or possessing strange abilities. She had felt like she belonged, at least for a little while, until she had left with Josh, and then apparently had drifted, needing that belonging again, when Hadrian's Wall had realized the opportunity they had with her at such a crossroads in her life, and had offered her a place in their organization.

He recalled the pride on her face when she had shown him her room at the Wall, the manner in which she had presented information about a suspect or situation in which only she was in possession of knowledge about. He had been busy grappling with so many losses: Juliette, his mother, his once happy life, or so he had thought, gone. Later, trying to raise a baby with a former enemy, and the relationship that grew from that endeavor.

There didn't seem to be an obvious place for Trubel in the midst of all that upheaval, but he realized maybe she was still searching for a place to fit in. He forgot sometimes how young she still was, though the Wall was rapidly hardening her in their fight against Black claw and Wesen like them.

"Well, you're somebody's aunt, in case you forgot," Nick said, and remembered that she had been taken with Kelly, and Kelly her. It had been a long time since they had spent any significant amount of time together. Since the thing with Louis, almost six months ago, when she had briefly lived with them again.

She almost smiled, and her eyes filled with tears. She lunged for him, arms wrapping around him tightly.

"I'm really happy for you," she said. "I just wanted to say congratulations. I hope you'll be happy for a long time. If anyone deserves it, it's you." Her voice choked on the last, and Nick squeezed her tightly.

"We have a spare room at our new place over the garage, you know. I can fix it up," Nick added enticingly, wondering if: one, she knew they had bought a house and moved; and two: that he could maybe lure her away from the Wall, and what he perceived to be a somewhat negative influence, but then what would he have to offer her to do with her time instead? Baby-sit?

And three, was it safe to have her in their home for any length of time, or was it just one more target on their backs? He doubted the Wall would just let her go, too.

"Yeah, just what you want, me living with you and your new bride, eating you out of house and home."

"We'd all have our own bathroom," Nick replied, or at least, Adalind and Nick had their own separate from everyone else.

"That's almost incentive enough right there," Trubel said. "Do you know what it's like sharing a communal bathroom with Eve and Meisner and everyone else here?"

"No, and don't spoil the mystery," Nick replied. Trubel gave him a watery smile.

"How are things with Diana?" she ventured, sobering a little. "How'd Kelly take her?"

"Not...well, initially, but they've seemed to have made their peace with one another, and get along at least some of the time. Rosalee said it reminds her of growing up with her brother and that I shouldn't be too concerned with their behavior together. Just normal sibling rivalry stuff. Diana's adjusted better than I thought she would. It's made for some difficult situations with Renard, though," Nick added.

"How so?"

"We're currently fighting with him for primary physical and legal custody."

"What? Shut up," Trubel said, and Nick grimaced. "You think it has something to do with what's going on with him?"

"Possibly. Probably. I don't know," Nick admitted. "I don't know what he's doing."

"I think you'd better find out," Trubel said.

Nick sighed. "I know."

%%%%%%%%

It was hard to follow Renard when he was holed up in his office all day.

Although, technically, he supposed, that probably made it easy. Provided Nick wasn't actively investigating any cases out in the field, and since usually was, he was rarely at his desk for any length of time. Not to mention his desk was set up where his back was to Renard anyway.

Instead, Nick used the time at his desk ostensibly to catch up on his reports, except he could hardly focus on them, since he was focusing on Renard (and trying not to look like he was focusing on Renard), and sadly he would just be further behind when all this was said and done.

His phone rang and he pulled his attention away from subtly surveilling Renard, who was apparently going over paperwork of his own. Adalind. He frowned and picked up.

"Yeah?"

"I just got a call from the daycare," she said, and Nick straightened.

"Everything okay?"

"No, apparently there was an incident and Ansheimler needs us both to come down to discuss it," Adalind replied, sounding stressed.

"An incident? With who? Kelly?" Nick said, and remembered Diana was there as well. "Diana?"

"I don't know," she said. "Ansheimler is expecting us to be there. I had to cancel a meeting with my client, who isn't happy, and Berman isn't happy because of it."

"I'm sure I can handle it alone, if need be," Nick said, not at all sure.

"No," Adalind said with a sigh. "I guess I'll meet you there," and she ended the call.

Nick took one more glance at Renard's office and grabbed his coat.

"Where you off to?" Hank asked as he came back with their lunch.

"Daycare call," Nick said, glancing at Renard through the blinds. He was on the phone.

"For real? You sure you're not sneaking out for a little one on one time with your wife?" Nick shook his head ruefully. Hank sobered. "Everything okay?"

"I'm about to find out. Be back in a bit."

"Nick!" and Nick paused in surprise, Renard standing in the doorway of his office. "Can I see you for a minute."

"Uh, not now, I've got a thing-"

"A minute," Renard said, and his voice left no room for argument. Nick sighed again, and headed to the office, flashing an irritated look at Hank as he walked by their desks before stepping past Renard.

"Yes sir?" he asked.

"I just got a call from that daycare where you enrolled Diana, about some incident that occurred?" Nick frowned. They had been ordered by the mediator to hand over all information related to arrangements for Diana's care and schooling to Renard. Nick hadn't been aware that the daycare had Renard's contact information, and wondered if Adalind was aware. It also was unsettling that whatever incident occurred apparently involved Diana, because why else would they be contacting Renard, too?

"Yeah, Adalind just called me. Dr. Ansheimler wants to meet with us. I was on my way there when you asked to see me," he continued, preparing for another round of _She's not your daughter_ and _I'm her father, I'm going, not you_. He blinked in surprise when it didn't come. Instead, Renard slipped his hands in his pants pockets and looked contemplative.

"Might be best if you can handle it. Ansheimler is familiar with you. I'd go myself but I've got a meeting with the mayor in twenty minutes."

"So what?" Nick retorted, surprising both of them. "You think Adalind or I don't have shit to do? She had to cancel on an important client, and I've got a backlog of reports I'm still trying to catch up on. Welcome to parenthood," Nick snapped. "It's rarely convenient, and if you think after all the shit you've been pulling about wanting full custody that I'm going to cover for you, or make it easy for you to continue being some half-assed, part-time parent, guess again. You want to be her father, then be her father. That means have your ass down there seated next to us like you actually give a damn, otherwise, make the decision to let her go and Adalind and I can do what's best for her on our own, because I actually do give a damn about her."

%%%%%%%%

"You want to tell me why I've been following our captain around for the last two and a half hours?" Hank said when Nick picked up the phone.

"What's he doing?"

"Looks like shooting the breeze with the mayor right now," Hank replied.

"Keep an eye on him, but make sure he doesn't see you," Nick directed.

"I know how to tail someone," Hank said shortly. "You want to tell me what this is about? Where are you?"

"Adalind and I got called down to the daycare about a matter with Diana."

"I know that."

"Well, that's where I still am." Hank snorted.

"Everything okay?"

Nick shook his head, though Hank couldn't see it. "I think we've talked Ansheimler into giving us another chance with Diana. Apparently another child tried to bite Kelly, and she took up the fight for him, so to speak," Nick said, looking back at what had to be half the staff assembled around Adalind and Ansheimler. Honestly, he'd held murder suspects in custody with less security involved.

"The other child okay?"

"Yeah," Nick said with a sigh. "I think Diana just scared the crap out of her."

"Her? Kelly was almost bitten by a little girl?"

"Yeah, Katie, this little girl at the daycare with him. They have a very love/hate kind of relationship. It's all very complicated."

"You're talking about a two-year-old, and if it's complicated this early, sounds like he's learned some bad habits from his parents," Hank said.

"God I hope not," Nick muttered.

"No kidding. His life is going to be hell if he starts seeking out relationships like that this early in his life," Hank replied. "You need to teach him that not every relationship he has with someone of the opposite sex need be so contentious, you know. Look at Monroe and Rosalee. No hate there, just love. Maybe you should let Monroe take point on advice with girls."

"Hey!" Nick said. "I managed to get it figured out. I mean I'm married, aren't I? And to his mother."

"I don't think you want to go there," Hank retorted.

"I mean, he's almost two. He could care less about Katie in the scheme of things," Nick said, more to placate himself than Hank. "And Katie was the instigator, he would have never acted like that had she not provoked him."

"The woman usually does. He did something?"

"Yeah, she was following him around, wanting some toy and tried to take it, and he apparently threw it or something at her, and she took offense and it went downhill from there. She tried to bite him and then Diana took offense and used her powers to basically tell her to leave Kelly alone. Anyway, that's why I'm here. That and to make sure Adalind and I don't get sued. As it is, we may have to pay for the little girl's therapy for the next ten years."

"Sorry. What exactly am I watching for?" Hank asked him, getting back to the topic of Renard

"I don't know, but he's up to something," Nick said. "H.W. had surveillance of him meeting with Sudcliffe, on at least three occasions," Nick replied glancing around him and making sure Adalind wasn't within hearing distance. She was still conversing with Ansheimler and the others on the other side of the room.

"Sudcliffe? The Sudcliffe who helped kidnap and attack Adalind and Eve?"

"The same."

"Why the hell is he meeting with him? Do you think he knew about Sudcliffe before?" Hank asked sharply.

"I don't know. Sudcliffe is operating under a different name now, James Newton. I don't know if Renard has made the connection or not."

"Where the hell did he find him?"

"No idea. Sudcliffe is trying to resurrect Black Claw in Europe. He's been tied to Fitz and Ramstein, the company that owned the container where the three bodies were discovered."

"What? How do you know all this?"

"The Wall. I'm telling you Hank, he's up to something. He's going to make his move, and I'm not sure what it is or how Diana fits into all of it, but it's definitely tied somehow to the Royals."

"Gotta go, he's on the move now."

%%%%%%%%%

"Nick, can I see you for a minute?" Nick glanced behind him, hand paused midair over the keypad to make his vending machine choice. He turned his attention back to the bag of Fritos that had caught his attention.

"What do you want?" Nick asked coolly. A distant voice reminded him he might not want to be so brazen with his boss out here in the corridor.

"We need to talk," Renard said. "Privately," he added and Nick made his selection and then watched it get stuck in the machine just as it was about to release it.

"Dammit," Nick muttered. He had missed lunch due to the meeting with Ansheimler and the subsequent pleading, cajoling, and bargaining to not expel Diana from the daycare, and then the pleading, cajoling and bargaining of the Katie's parents to not sue them. Then there had been Diana to deal with, teary, pleading, and practically inconsolable with the knowledge she had made a grave error in what she had done and what Nick and Adalind would do because of it.

In the meantime, Hank had followed Renard for thirty minutes more before realizing Renard was taking a scenic route back to the station, where he had been holed up in his office again after four stops on his way back to the precinct.

He slammed the heel of his hand against the glass hard three times but the bag of chips didn't budge. He put both hands on the frame of the machine and rocked it violently, watching the bag vibrate as he did so, but it still held.

"Sonofa-!" Nick muttered, and realized Renard was watching him closely.

"The meeting with Ansheimler about Diana went well, by the way," Nick informed him snidely. "They decided not to kick her out."

Renard shrugged. "I never would have chosen her to go there anyway," he replied, and Nick spent a few seconds of pondering the pros and cons of decking Renard out here in the corridor, in a police station. Deciding he wasn't worth his career or badge, he gave one more vicious slam on the glass and calmed considerably when the bag finally fell.

"I'm guessing by your absence at the meeting that you have decided to finally do the right thing and back off on the full custody crap," Nick said, turning to give Renard a hard look.

"About that…we need to talk," Renard reiterated.

"Fine," Nick said. "Let's talk."

%%%%%%%%%

Renard led him into one of the old interrogation rooms, before the two way mirrors and camera systems. It was usually used as storage now, though this one was empty except for a table and two chairs. Nick wondered what things went on here that weren't seen or heard. He glanced around the room slowly, pointedly, and looked at Renard.

"The room is soundproofed," Renard said, and Nick raised his eyebrow, wondering what Renard had in mind bringing him here. "Many decades ago, it was used for more…brutal interrogations than what are generally allowed now," Renard replied to the unspoken question.

"Is that what we're going to have?"

"No. Just need some privacy. What I'm about to tell you…it stays between us." Nick cocked his head and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against a wall, the interrogation table between them. Renard stood in front of the table.

"You wanted to talk. So talk," Nick said.

"What did you find out about the container case?"

"Not a whole lot. Feds have jurisdiction and they're not eager to share anything on their case with me, a lowly Portland detective, not to mention a detective who has been a person of interest in three of their cases. What about you?" Nick asked watching him carefully. "You find out anything?"

Renard nodded. "I think so. You heard of Fitz and Ramstein?"

"Yeah, they're the IT company that shipped the container."

"Actually, they're a front company for the black claw movement in Europe. It's spearheaded by a man known as James Newton," Renard said, staring at Nick, searching for a reaction. Nick kept his face carefully neutral.

"So Newton's trying to stage another uprising? What does this have to do with Portland? Sounds like it's Germany's problem."

"Newton's been linked to two attacks against the royal families. He's a person of interest to a lot of parties, the royals and the resistance."

"What do we know about him?"

"Not much, born in Austria and raised in Norway. Educated in Britain."

 _No of his real name,_ Nick thought, nodding along.

"Came to the states maybe fifteen years ago, nobody's sure, but used a number of identities, the most recent of which was Brighton Sudcliffe, which you may recognize," Renard said, watching Nick closely.

"He was one of the guys who kidnapped and assaulted Adalind and Eve," Nick replied and Renard nodded. "The wall's been searching for him for months but they haven't been able to discover where he's been hiding." _Not a lie,_ he supposed, but he wasn't about to offer anything up until he understood what side Renard was on.

"Well, for the last month or so, I'd say Portland," and Nick stood a little straighter.

"What makes you say that?"

"He contacted me approximately four weeks ago, trying to set up a meet."

"And did he?"

"Yes, though not by my choice. He forced a meet between us at the old Timber factory."

"The weekend you were supposed to have Diana," Nick replied, crossing his arms over his chest. Renard nodded again.

"I didn't want him anywhere near her. They're aware I have a daughter. Apparently it's starting to become fodder for the uprising to try and use her against me. I'm sure you can agree she was safer with mother." Nick frowned, thinking she would have probably been safer staying with Nick and Adalind, but he didn't feel like having another round of custody battle here at the station. He could well imagine the biest that would reveal itself if Elizabeth had felt that her granddaughter was at risk. Comparable to the one Adalind would have surely displayed had she still been in possession of her powers, he was sure, and she had been a very dangerous Hexenbiest, too, not to mention what Diana might do if threatened. He thought again of the fiasco at the daycare. She was too young to judge what constituted a threat serious enough to use her powers.

"What did they say? Did they threaten her specifically?" Nick demanded and Renard gave him a calculating look.

"And what's the right answer to that, huh? The one where you won't use it against me in order to take my daughter away from me, or the truth?"

"The one that's got Diana's best interests in mind. Shouldn't even be a question, really," Nick retorted.

"Believe it or not, I do have her best interests in mind," Renard snapped back. "Which is why I'm willing to agree to give you and Adalind full custody," Renard offered. Nick shifted, eyes narrowing.

"Really," Nick said in disbelief, eyebrow raising. "What's the catch?" Nick asked, aware after the battle they had been fighting that Renard wasn't just going to hand her over to them. Renard smirked slightly.

"The catch," Renard said, "Is I need your help, and I still would like some contact with my daughter. Full custody does not mean sole custody."

"I told you before we aren't trying to keep you from your daughter."

"Maybe you aren't, although lately that's been questionable-"

"Lately, your commitment to being a father to her has been questionable. She needs some stability, and some positive examples to follow," Nick retorted.

"And you and Adalind qualify as that?" Renard replied hotly. Nick glared.

"At least we're trying. You said you wanted my help?" Nick reminded him pointedly. Renard sighed quietly.

"You and I both know Adalind would be more than happy if I never saw Diana again, but yes, she does appear to be doing well with your family. You know she talks about you, and Adalind and everyone all the time."

Nick raised his eyebrow again, though privately surprised, because it just occurred to Nick that she rarely talked about Renard or Elizabeth. Usually only when asked or prompted how her visits went. Either there wasn't much to say, they had coached her not to say anything, or perhaps she realized her remarks could sometimes cause agitation or disappointment in Adalind—not at Diana, but at Renard and his family. Maybe at six, Diana was already learning she didn't want to deal with the excess family drama.

"What do you need my help with?" Nick asked guardedly and Renard slipped his hands in his pockets and pursed his lips.

"As you know there's been some dissension among the royal families again. Tempers have flared. Those two assassination attempts have understandably gotten the royals concerned, and me as well."

"Why? Doesn't it mean if Newton or Sudcliffe or whoever you want to call him succeeds it means less who oppose you?" Nick asked him archly and Renard gave him a long considering look.

"Not really, since Sudcliffe has been trying to take out the ones that support me."

"So why's he meeting with you then, if he doesn't support you?"

"He wants to make a deal, and he thinks by isolating me from my friends and the royal families he can get me desperate enough to take it."

"So Diana is at risk, then," Nick said. "He can easily use her against you."

"Yes, she is at risk, but whether it's any more than what she would normally be at risk given her lineage, I couldn't say. The royals of course, are still as interested in her as ever, and the resistance because of what she means to both. It's also why it would be better that she lived with her mother and you rather than me full time. And yes, he did threaten her, which is why I took steps to make sure nothing happened to her when she was with me that weekend, and going forward."

"What steps?" Nick asked.

"Let's just say I don't think he'll try that particular method again," Renard replied cryptically and Nick frowned.

"So what's the deal he's offering you?" Nick asked him.

"Because of the failed mayoral bid, I'm a known political figure here in Portland. Newton knows I have a lot of connections; he wants to use those connections to help the uprising regain deeper footholds. He's hoping with my connections in both the political field and law enforcement, I can help to manipulate situations to their advantage."

"You mean look the other way?"

"Yes."

"And you need my help to do that? Forget it," Nick spat. "I'm not helping you cover up crimes for the uprising."

" _I'm_ not helping Newton cover up crimes for the uprising," Renard said coolly. "At least as far as you and I know, but to everyone else it needs to look like I'm, at most, reluctantly helping him."

 _How reluctant are you really?_ Nick wondered, but said nothing.

"So what's he offering you then? You look the other way and what? He helps you become governor, or senator, or president or something?"

"No, I look the other way, and he turns over some information that has been buried in my family for centuries."

"What information?"

Renard stared at him for a long moment, debating. A muscle ticked in his jaw and he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You understand what I'm about to tell you I've not told anyone. Do to the blow we dealt them last year, the uprising has become stealthier and more secretive. It's harder to determine who's an associate, or sympathetic to their cause. Where before they've been loud and brash, now they're going for subtle and sneaky now."

Nick frowned, and nodded reluctantly.

"Twenty-five years ago, I was a young man just starting out in law enforcement. Not here in Portland, but Seattle. I was also newly married," Renard said, looking at Nick and then looking past his shoulder to the barred window behind them. Nick felt his pulse jump erratically, reminded of his own, very recent, change in relationship status, the ring he now wore on his finger. He glanced at Renard, and the gold band on his hand he had always worn ever since Nick had known him. He had wondered about Renard and that ring. Nothing had ever been said about a wife, where she was or what had happened to her.

Renard still didn't know Nick had his own wife now. He nonchalantly tucked his hands in his pockets and assumed a posture of interest. Renard pulled his eyes away from the window, and his memories, and resumed his narrative.

"She was a graduate student in European history—studied the crusades—from Quebec. She was studying under one of the professors there. I met her when I was patrol, during security for an event she attended. We had quite the whirlwind romance and we were married within six months."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating," he offered with a touch of sarcasm, though he had to admit, he was interested. Not a lot was known about Renard's background. "She was Wesen?" Nick stated. Renard shook his head, bringing Nick's other eyebrow up in genuine surprise."

"No, she was royal, but I didn't know that at the time," Renard said. "It had been years since we had escaped Europe and the royal families. Mother might have recognized who she was had I told her, but we were both following different pursuits at that time."

"So, what? Did you marry a relative? A distant cousin perhaps?"

"Not distant enough. She belonged to the Regensburg family, one of three families at that time who held a lot of power and influence."

"I'm guessing not the black sheep of the royals?

"No, that would be me. So you can imagine how her family felt once they found out, and how they reacted once they knew of our relationship. My father, the King, was forced to react as well. There was no love lost between the Regensburg family and ours, but my father couldn't afford to look as though he was indifferent to his bastard son taking up with a highly respected and old family. As you might imagine, he claimed no knowledge our relationship, and decried my involvement with her to the rest of the royal families. He couldn't afford a misstep with our own families' sphere of influence, especially after rumors circulated he had had a bastard child with one of the Wesen help.

"To help smooth things over he decided to fix the situation. He figured out a way to keep us from being together and delivering a coup in one fell swoop. She died in a fire, in the basement of the European History building. Autopsy report listed her official cause of death as asphyxiation from a fire. Building was old and it had been cited for code violations on the wiring. Wiring overheated and sparked and the building caught fire, or at least that's what the report said. She and two other students who were unable to get out in time, died.

"Naturally the Regensburgs are devastated, as am I, and my father manages to look like a properly saddened royal, offering one small bright spot in the natural, or so it looked, death of one of their dearest nieces. After hearing his new daughter-in-law-tragically perished in a fire, he of course, tried to determine what had happened and found something else instead.

A book depicting the houses of the royal families dating back to the fifth century that was found among her belongings. He claimed the book and gave it as a gift to the Regensburg, and everyone accepted the story he told and the condolences and never looked any further."

"The book is meant to appease the death of their loved one? What's so special about it?"

"Besides the fact the one my father gave them was a fake?" Well, at least Renard came by his deviousness honestly, Nick thought.

"It contains the lineage of all seven families and the Grimms who have served with them over time, at least until the last two hundred years, not to mention some important historical data about places and times. My father kept the real one, and for years the Regensburg have been working on false data.

"So Newton is threatening to go live with this fact?"

"That and that my family was directly involved in a hit against a very prominent Royal family, one that we've been aligned with for a long time. We need those allegiances, Nick in the fight against the uprising."

"We?" Nick snorted, shaking his head. He still wasn't sure he understood the significance of the book. There had to be more to it than Renard was saying. "No, you."

"Nick, Sudcliffe thinks he can control the royal families if he can get his hands on that information. Controlling the royal families will obviously give him significant advantage with the Wesen uprising, not to mention a lot of power and authority. They side with him, most of the Wesen community will start to side and then we all have a big problem on our hands, especially if you're a Grimm. I need your help taking him down, but I can't risk Sudcliffe thinking for any moment that I'm not going to do what he wants. If Sudcliffe thinks I'm playing him, we lose our chance at possibly snuffing out the Uprising for good.

"It's got to look like what it is on the surface. I've switched allegiances. It's got to look real, and he's got eyes everywhere. I need you watching my back making sure it doesn't go south until we can nail him and anyone else in his organization to the wall. We used to be a pretty good team before, Nick. This is highly sensitive information. You can't tell Adalind, or Monroe, or Wu, or even anyone at the Wall. Not yet."

"You expect me to lie to everybody about something I'm not even sure I understand or believe?"

"I expect you to forget we ever had this conversation, and that accordingly, you'll never mention it to anyone until the right time comes. Newton wants this, Nick. He's getting desperate, and he needs my help to reestablish the footholds he had here in Portland. If I can get him on the hook, I think he'll stick his neck out far enough that we can grab him, but this is a delicate operation, and one that's going to take a lot of time."

Nick nodded slowly.

"Besides, you and I both know that nailing Newton is as personal for you, as it is for me? You're not really going to let the man who assaulted Adalind just walk away, are you?"

Nick looked up and met Renard's eyes. No, not if he could help it, but he was also aware Renard had him over a barrel to an extent. It was a sting operation, but with Renard feeding Nick in all possibility information he wanted Nick to know, but maybe not the information he needed to know. Still as a cop and a Grimm could he ignore this opportunity? Renard drew in a deep breath.

"Are you in?"

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Feeeeed me Seymour, feed me (with some feedback that is).


	20. Chapter 20

AN: That last chapter too much? Hmm. Anyway, we've reached the end. Thank you to everyone that read/reviewed/stuck with me.

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"What on earth did you say to Berman that convinced him to let me off at two o'clock in the afternoon?"

"Does it really matter? The good thing is I didn't have to use the handcuffs. Or deadly force. It's a win-win in my book. The paperwork is a bitch."

"Uh-huh," she said, but she smiled and Nick knew she wasn't bothered by whatever he had done. Surprisingly it had been easier than he thought to get Adalind freed up Friday afternoon. He only had to enlist Anita's help, and she was surprisingly capable of getting the job done, no matter what Adalind sometimes groused about her. Obviously Adalind had seen signs of that fact, too, or otherwise she probably would have canned Anita long ago.

"So where are you taking me?"

"Into the woods," Nick said.

"Yes, I can see that," she said, looking out the window at the forest surrounding them. "Where in the woods?"

"Deep into the woods," Nick said. She gave him a look.

"Will we have cell reception?" she asked him, clearly thinking about the ability to reach her children; for someone to reach her about them if they needed to.

"Yes," Nick assured. "Once we reach the top of the mountain you'll be able to send and receive calls; I checked when I made the reservation."

She looked at him and ran her hand over his knee and thigh, excitement and anticipation evident in her expression, and Nick felt his blood warm.

"Did Monroe and Hank and Wu ever calm down," Adalind asked him, turning back to look at the scenery.

"No, not really. A little bit, I guess."

"It'll be okay," Adalind said.

"Yeah," Nick said with a sigh. "We may have to get remarried with all our friends just to smooth things over."

"Hmm. Would that mean two honeymoons, then?"

Nick looked at her. "We'll have to see how you recover from the first," he said, smile playing on his lips as he looked back at the road. The road up to the chalets was a curvy, hairpin type, going up the mountain at a fairly steep incline, requiring most of his attention.

"Me?" she snorted, but she had that familiar seductive glint in her eye, the one that made Nick's groin tingle and he thought how well she gave as good as she got.

"You," he confirmed.

"Yeah, we'll see," she said smugly.

"I still have handcuffs, don't forget," Nick said.

"What, you think you're the only one?" she retorted and he glanced at her in surprise. She smirked.

He focused back on the road and bit down his own smirk. She was always full of surprises. "I look forward to delving deeper into that story later," Nick said.

"How much longer until we get there?"

"According to GPS, about fifteen minutes."

"I hope everything will be okay this weekend," she said. "Diana and Kelly," she added, as though Nick might be uncertain as to what she was referring to. She was trying very hard to be a team player, and focused on the honeymoon but her instincts as a mother had at least part of her mind on her children. Nick wasn't overly worried about Kelly. He had stayed with Monroe and Rosalee several times, but he knew her real concern lay with Diana spending her first court-mandated weekend with Renard.

"Did you tell Renard about us?'

Nick shook his head, thinking of the conversation he and Renard had yesterday afternoon. "No. Told Hank to tell him something came up if he asked, but we're still not really talking."

"So he doesn't know you're on your way to our honeymoon?"

"No, not unless Hank or Wu told him."

"Maybe that's best," Adalind said. "I'm not sure how I'd feel if he knew we'd be gone and hard to reach for the next few days."

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, what if he knew and he decided it was the perfect time to do something with Diana, hide her, or take her away? It would be hours before we could get back to the city and she could be long gone."

Nick tightened his jaw. If he did that after the conversation he and Renard had had yesterday and the one at Diana's birthday party, he would find Renard and kill him himself. He doubted Renard was focused on that, right now anyway, if that was even his intent. He was more concerned with what Newton/Sudcliffe was trying to do. It would take him a while to figure out if having Diana back in his life, even part time as he was claiming he would agree to if Nick decided to help him, was worth the fear and concern for what might happen to her because of it. It was possible her being back in his life might be more useful to him than being in hiding, and it would take him awhile to figure that answer out.

Nick really hoped that wouldn't be the driving factor in Renard's decision to get to know his daughter, but he thought the pressures of trying to play both sides, the throne, and royalty might crowd out anything else.

"Do you think he'll agree to our proposal," Adalind asked him, and Nick shrugged, thinking again of what they had discussed yesterday. He hadn't mentioned the topic to Adalind, not so much because Renard had asked him not to, but because Nick wasn't sure where he stood on what Renard was asking him. He was trying to make a decision based on logic and facts, not an emotional one. Despite however Renard might want to frame it, Nick had an uneasy feeling about what might be really going on there. He agreed that Sudcliffe needed to be stopped, but he couldn't help but wonder what exactly he would be helping Renard with. Catching a criminal and a leader of the opposition, or helping Renard position himself for some type of political move with the Royals?

It was hard to ignore the voice that kept pointing out he could give Adalind exactly what she wanted, with minimal fuss on Renard's part. That this was likely the right decision for Diana, to have some stability and structure in her life. Nick could be the hero to both his wife and daughter. Renard essentially had Nick over a barrel and they both knew it.

"Do you want to turn back around?" Nick asked her, and she twisted her lips.

"No," she said after a moment. "What I want, what I really want, is to enjoy our weekend together. We're never going to be able to have a real honeymoon—go away for a week or two, someplace warm and tropical like Monroe and Rosalee, at least—probably for a long, long time, if ever. So I do want to enjoy this weekend with you, and not be scared or worried about our children."

"You know we can honeymoon at home," Nick said. "The kids will still be away for the weekend and we'd be close if they needed us."

"No, we're here, see? I promise we're going to enjoy ourselves." She pointed to the office out the windshield and indicated a few of the chalets Nick could see off in the distance.

"Duh," Nick said with a grin. "I know what happens on a honeymoon."

"Really? Been married before have you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Nick replied, getting out of the car to check in.

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He had done good, he thought, and judging by Adalind's expression she thought so, too. She looked around their chalet, a small smile on her lips as she noted the details, the décor, a note from the staff that welcomed Mr. and Mrs. Burkhardt to their stay for the weekend that she had looked at for a long time, and congratulating them on their nuptials. There was a bottle of champagne in a chiller, two flutes beside it, mints on the pillows, rose petals on the floor leading to the bed that Nick thought was a bit cheesy but Adalind gasped over when she saw them, and their own private Jacuzzi that Nick couldn't wait to see her bubbly and naked in.

He dropped their bags near the entrance and then trailed after her as she fingered objects in the chalet and oohed and ahhed over the place.

"You like it?" Nick asked when she smelled a vase of fresh cut flowers on the dresser. She looked at him and smiled, her expression affectionate and loving and pleased and he had her in his arms before he realized he had moved. Her arms moved around him and he pulled her close, tasting her lips, suddenly impatient to be with her.

"There's champagne chilling in the bucket, we can have a glass and toast to a lifetime of happiness, or at least what passes for that with two people who used to hate each other's guts," she said.

"Later," he murmured, and slipped her shirt over her head. "First, I want to spend some quality time with my new bride." Her pants pooled around her ankles next after he slipped them over her hips, and she stepped out of them and slipped back into his arms, mouths fused again. He felt his belt slip from the loops, and he stepped back and worked his way out of his shoes, kicking them off to the side where one _thunk_ ed loudly against the bureau. He yanked her to him again, more urgent this time, hands and mouth everywhere. She tried to work the buttons on his shirt, but he was so insistent, yanking and pulling and grabbing her against him, a fever raging now that they were alone, that she got fed up and ripped it open, and he heard buttons scatter everywhere on the floor.

"I liked that shirt," he said teasingly, telling himself to slow down a little.

"You're going to like it more what I'm going to do to you. You won't even care about the shirt. Or these pants for that matter."

"Mmm," he said, hand sliding through her hair, and cupping the back of her head. "I think," he said, maneuvering her closer to the bed, stepping out of his jeans, "that we should take this nice and slow," he continued when she looked up at him trustingly. "There's no kids, and no reasons to hurry. Just a husband," he said, finding her mouth again, "making love to his wife," he finished when he came back up for air, and he carefully laid her back on the bed.

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He was going to have to remember that move the next time he tried to take down a particularly slippery subject. He still wasn't sure how she managed it. She claimed it wasn't as hard as he was saying since he had been so focused on her breasts, but in his defense that was totally untrue, and secondly they were fantastic when they jiggled, full and firm, well worth the attention he gave them.

Somehow or another, as they had started round two, she had managed to get the drop on him and he was handcuffed to the bed, marveling over her alacrity. She grinned smugly as she sat back, still straddling him, and he watched her breasts bounce with the motion. The nipples were hard and pert, and he ached to play with them. It had been a long time since they'd had the opportunity to be this uninhibited together and he was pleased to see he wasn't the only one taking advantage of the freedom this little getaway had allotted them.

He tugged against the cuffs, found they held firm and looked up at them, noting they were connected to the metal headboard. He looked back down when he felt her hands slide down his hips and she grinned wickedly when she caught his eye as her mouth moved over his abdomen following. He swallowed and shifted and she grinned again.

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They had broken the cuffs. Or maybe the bed. He wasn't sure. Either way his hands were free and she was currently panting heavily, cheek pressed against the mattress, her smooth, bare ass giving him a different perspective of something round and firm as she laid draped over him, lying perpendicular to his body. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling, making sure he wasn't about to stroke out after what they had done. After a few minutes he thought he might live and he lifted his head to check on his wife. His lips curled at that thought and further still when he caught sight of her wholly satisfied expression.

He pulled his arm into view, and noted the chain connecting the cuffs had broken. Good. He wasn't sure he could afford to replace the bed in this place any way, after the house they had bought. A new pair of cuffs was much cheaper.

"Oh my god," Adalind moaned, and Nick looked back at her, dropping his arm.

"Were these your cuffs or my cuffs?" he asked her and she blinked hazily and looked at them.

"Oh my god," she said again, breathlessly. Her face scrunched up in thought after a moment. "I think they were yours. Mine are fictional. I didn't actually bring any." He quirked a brow at her. "If I needed you restrained for some reason, I just planned on tying you up with something, but that…that was way more fun than anything I had imagined."

He dropped his head back against the pillow and silently agreed.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Who cares?" he said, but looked at his watch, which was the only thing he was still wearing. "It's a little after eight," Nick said, and she nodded but didn't otherwise move.

"I guess we should get something to eat. Order up some room service," Nick suggested, blowing air out of his cheeks, and lifted his head to look over at her.

She nodded again.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a laugh, and she looked at him and grinned. She nodded. He slid his hand over the silky smoothness of the back of her thigh, following the slope of her rear before smacking it lightly.

"Then get off me, I need to get up. I'll order in. We need to refuel. There's still the Jacuzzi to try out and we're not leaving here until we do. And after all that we just did…I could use a moment to soak and relax anyway."

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"Is your intention to have me up against every horizontal surface of the chalet?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with it?"

"Ohhh," she said, when he rocked her against the small table desk in the living area, closing her eyes. "No, I suppose not."

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"We should get a Jacuzzi for our place," she said, breathing heavily in his ear, water sloshing over the side as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"We can't afford one," he said.

"You sure? Maybe one of us should get a second job. I think you're right. We're really missing an opportunity here."

"I have a second job," Nick said. "So I guess that one of us is you."

"Excuse me? I'm a lawyer and a mom to two small children."

"Well, I'm a cop and a Grimm _and_ a dad, so…looks like one of us should get a _third_ job."

"God, it ought to be against the law what you do with your—ahh!" she gasped, and he nuzzled her throat.

"Maybe it is and you just don't know it."

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"You okay?" Nick asked as Adalind slowly pushed up from their makeshift bed on the floor. Saturday morning and afternoon had been spent much in the way of their first night in the chalet, with exception to a couple of meal breaks and the thirty or so minutes it took Nick to start the fire. It was still burning brightly in the fireplace, an hour later and they were surrounded by a bottle of wine, a couple of glasses and a couple of downy blankets under and over them.

"Mm-hmm," Adalind said sleepily, the blanket sliding off her shoulder. Goosepimples popped up all over her upper arms, and Nick quickly recovered her and pulled her close. She snuggled against him and they listened to the fire crackle for a few minutes.

"Do you think Diana's okay? Sean's is a new place for her, and we just moved. It's a lot of change for her in the last couple of months."

Nick opened his eyes, coming to awareness slowly.

"She's going to be fine. You'll see her tomorrow. Kelly, too."

"I miss them," she whispered. He thought of the noise that constantly pervaded the house now whenever the children were awake. The fighting, the crying, the giggling and laughter. His son's temper tantrums and Diana's fits of fury that could literally shake the walls of the house. Their smiles and the hugs they gave him when he came home, running as fast they could to greet him and be swept up in his arms. The incoherent chatter as they fought for Nick's attention and told him about their day.

"Me, too," he said, and felt her fingers slip into his, her wedding ring cool against his skin. He would have to make his decision about Renard and Sudcliffe and what he was willing to do. He turned his head and placed a kiss in her hair, and she snuggled up against his side.

"Go to sleep. It'll be tomorrow when you wake up."

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End file.
